Twilight Undone
by KayLudlow
Summary: The Cullens are a vegetarian coven which just happens to live together. Nobody is married. Nobody goes to school. They merely live with one another. What happens when Edward Cullen stumbles across a certain someone in his meadow. Will their lives change?
1. 1 Encounters

**Twilight Undone**

**Chapter One**

**Encounters**

Edward's POV

I had left the house around noon to go on my daily hunt. I made the effort to feed on a daily basis these days; it made living with a growing population a lot easier and I found the temptation to eliminate ignorant and insufferable people much less daunting. I had made an attempt, about forty years ago, to discontinue feeding on humans, because I couldn't quite stomach the idea of feeding off of the one thing I could have—humanity. Mine was taken from me decades ago by a vampire named Aro. I was a seventeen year old boy living in the early 1900s, and I had fled my home after the death of my mother. Taking this opportunity to travel the world, I took a trip to Italy, which is now what I refer to as my birth place. Nothing about me is human anymore. I have forgotten all but my name—Edward.

Thirty years ago I ran into a familiar man, or rather a familiar vampire—for the two are distinguishable; I remembered him as a friend of Aro. I recalled him as the person whom I woke up to after my terrifying journey through agonizing hell. His name, or rather the name he went by and the name I still know him by, is Carlisle. He was the person to explain my new condition. He had this amazing calmness about him, a quality that made listening to the story about the end of my life much easier. He told me he was part of a special vampire coven—the Volturi—something along the lines of a congressional vampire court. Aro was what could be considered the head of the court.

'_Aro was hunting when he caught your scent. You weren't hard to catch.'_

'_I wasn't aware I was being chased. I wasn't trying to run.'_

'_Yes…' I remembered a certain pain in his eyes as though it were painful for him to recall the memory of an innocent person losing their life in the fashion that I had lost mine. I had yet to learn that Carlisle would be my closest friend and the most compassionate vampire I would ever come across. 'Well, when he finally caught you he found you to be something of extraordinary rarity.'_

'_I'm only seventeen.' There was that look again. I can't quite recall now, whether the look of regret came from the fact that I was only seventeen when my life was taken from me, or whether it was due to the fact that I would be seventeen for the rest of eternity. 'What could possibly be special about me?'_

'_I don't think I need to answer that for you… do I Edward?' I had no idea what he was talking about. It wasn't until he looked at me with a very mischievous smile that I began to think what he could possibly mean. He looked at me as though I already knew the answer… as though I could read his mind. That's when it happened. A swarm of thoughts that weren't mine ambushed my mind. I began to look around the room to see where there could possibly be people hiding. When I saw nobody I looked back to Carlisle who was still staring at me, smiling. '__**There's nobody here Edward.'**__ I heard him, but his lips weren't moving. __**'You've always been quite exceptional at reading people, haven't you Edward?'**_

'_What is going on? How is it I can hear you when you aren't moving your lips? This is absurd! This is all absurd! I want to leave! I want to go home!'_

'_Edward, calm down.' He didn't try to restrain me. He just spoke to me—like a human. 'This is your home now.'_

'_No.' I remembered trying to cry but feeling absolute dryness around my eyes as though my tear ducts had suffered a drought worse than any desert. _

'_Edward, I will be the last one to tell you that I am happy this happened to you, but you have to understand… this is who you are now.'_

_I could hear every single one of Carlisle's thoughts and I knew he was telling me the truth. I looked up at him, anger seething from my new fangs and slowly asked with extreme rage, 'Why did Aro do this to me?'_

'_You already know the—'_

'_NO! I want to hear it from you. I want to hear the __**words**__ come out of your mouth. I deserve an explanation.'_

_Carlisle sat at the foot of my bed and placed his hand on my leg which was beneath the comforter. I could feel every last millimeter of his skin connect with mine. The emphasis of his touch amplified itself through the comforter as though we were actually touching. I barely heard him when he said, 'Yes you do, son.' My mind was wrapped around the amplification of my sense of touch. _

_Carlisle let out a sigh, which brought me back to reality. I wondered how or why he did, because the first thing I had noticed when I woke up was my incapability to inhale or exhale oxygen. Furthermore, I noticed the lack of pain or suffocation that normally comes with a shortage of oxygen, for I suffered neither. I was merely a stalemate of existence. Carlisle let out a sigh as though he were human. When my thought track returned, I watched as he looked around the room, and for the first time I noticed the walls around me. I was in a rather large bedroom that had been beautifully decorated. The only off-setting part about the room was the blood-red walls. Immediately imagining that the walls were actually dripping blood, I became aware of my extreme urge to literally slit somebody's throat out of pure, agonizing thirst. I had never experienced something so absolutely unbearable. _

_I was ready to rip out of my bed and the room in search for something to stop the burning in my throat—something to quench my thirst… I needed blood. Carlisle's voice, however, was the only thing preventing me from doing so. _

'_**Edward, can you hear me right now?'**__ I didn't say anything. I didn't look at him. I simply nodded. Then he stepped outside of my head. 'That is why Aro did this to you, or rather, that is why he didn't simply drain you of blood and leave you to die in the woods. This was much more difficult for him, however much more beneficial to him.'_

'_I still don't understand. Why is this so beneficial to him?'_

'_Edward, this place—Volterra—isn't just a place where vampires colonize. This is where the __**gifted**__ vampires colonize. It's why Aro and his brothers have the ability to rule.'_

'_So, what you're saying is this guy Aro… the guy who did this to me…. Only did it because he collects people—vampires—who show a higher potential than the rest.'_

'_In a nutshell, yes.'_

'_So not every vampire has a power?'_

'_God no.' He practically laughed at the idea. 'No, Edward. Barely one third of our kind has a power. Aro and his brothers use the especially gifted ones to help secure their hierarchy.'_

_I sat there for a few seconds pondering what he had just said and relating it to the fact that I was one of these especially gifted vampires. I had been chosen to survive. Reason was returning to me and calming my thoughts once again. _

'_So, I could be dead right now?'_

'_Well technically, you are part of the living dead now.'_

'_Excuse me?'_

'_No blood runs through your system. Your heart has completely stopped beating, never to start again. Have you noticed that you can't breathe?' I nodded. 'It's because you've simply stopped living. You're skin works as a rock now, not needing oxygen to sustain it… it just is. Do you understand?'_

'_I'm getting there.' I answered through my teeth, afraid that if I opened my mouth any further I'd force myself to feed on the first living thing within my vicinity. _

'_Think of it this way. When you're in a car accident and you're rushed to the hospital, the first thing they do is check your vitals, right? Are you breathing? Is your blood supply ok? Etc, etc. Well disregarding the breathing part, your blood supply is non-existent, which is why you have to feed. Don't think of it as eating… think of it as surviving. You're just replenishing your blood supply.'_

'_So I am to survive at the expense of innocent human beings?' _

'_Listen to me Edward. This is something that I will never wish upon someone, special ability or otherwise. I understand that our existence constitutes harm for those who are living, but there are many ways to walk around this.'_

'_I wasn't aware you could walk around the subject of murder.'_

'_What I'm trying to get across to you, Son, is that since we rely on feeding to keep us 'alive' that rather than killing innocent people… kill those who aren't.'_

'_You're talking about criminals and such?' I asked curiously._

'_I tend to get my victuals from those on death row. It gives me a little bit of satisfaction… if you understand where I'm coming from.'_

'_I'm beginning to, which is what scares me.' I paused and looked back at the red walls. My throat scorching in pain. 'Carlisle…. I think I need to visit death row.'_

_He quickly picked up on what I was requesting and stood up off the bed. 'Of course. I should have known. I'll let you get dressed. I believe Aro supplied you with a full closet. He is considerate when he wants to be. I'll wait for you outside.'_

'_Thank you, Carlisle.'_

_The vampire who expressed his deepest sympathies and kindness towards me left the room before I managed to even throw the comforter from my body. I set my foot on the floor and felt every molecule of material emphasized through my toes and the soles of me feet. This magnification was going to take some getting used to. I quickly found a pair of nice brown trousers, made of a lighter material than most trousers I'd worn in my life, and a simple white button down, collared shirt covered with a plain brown vest over top. It was amazing how light the clothes in Italy felt. I left the room, still examining my clothing and quickly heard the thoughts of Carlisle. _

'_**It's because you're a vampire.'**_

'_I'm sorry?' I said out loud. _

'_As a vampire, you have extreme strength. We will teach you to wield this strength, but it has an effect on the objects you pick up, and the clothing you wear. As a human picking up a pebble, or wearing clothing never crossed your mind, did it?'_

'_Not really, no.'_

'_Right, well you're body's muscles have been magnified about fifty times to what they used to be.'_

_I let out a burst of incredulous laughter. 'What? That's ridiculous! I still look normal sized!'_

'_It's just something about being a vampire, Edward. You'll just have to believe me on this one. The capacity your muscles can bear is quite loft, so now when you wear clothing, or pick up something small it is going to feel like you're picking up, or rather, wearing nothing but air. Do you understand?'_

'_It sure is a lot to take in. Nothing like rumors of vampires….'I let out a small laugh, but Carlisle didn't react in the same manner. I stopped and looked at him, but realized he was not focusing on me. There was a glimmer in his eye… a reflection of movement. I turned around and saw a group of people—humans. Instantaneously my throat roared in hunger. I could feel my body crouch into a hunting position as I observed the group of people walking below my terrace. I was about to pounce when I felt the strength of another on my back. 'NO, EDWARD!'_

_I felt my teeth expose themselves naturally and I literally growled at Carlisle. 'I need them!'_

'_Remember what I said Edward!' The idea of my teeth sinking into an innocent person's neck clouded my vision and my hunger, and I submitted myself to his grasp. I could have very easily ripped away from him, because for some reason I felt much stronger than him, though that didn't make any sense to me. _

'_I need to get out of here. Now.'_

'_Run.' When I looked at him questioningly, he repeated himself. "Run." I listened to his command and soon understood what he was telling me. I could feel myself able to pick up an extreme pace. Everything was moving past me in a huge blur as though I were travelling at the speed of light, and yet I could see everything so clearly. It didn't make any sense to me. I was, however, thankful, that I was beginning to lose the scent of the divine smelling humans. _

_I came to a halt once I reached a dark forest. I couldn't see as clearly now, but what would have been blindness in humanity was now an adaptation of night vision. Carlisle soon caught up with me. 'You're fast.'_

'_Can't you—'_

'_Edward, you have to understand that we are just like humans in that we are not exactly alike. We all can't do exactly what another does. Do you understand?'_

_I laughed. 'You've been asking me that a lot tonight.'_

_He smiled, 'Well there is a lot to grasp.' I nodded in response. 'Okay… we're going to have to run into the heart of Italy. Do you think you can run and last that long? It shouldn't take too long, and as a newborn you've got a lot of energy in you.'_

'_I think I'll be okay.' I laughed._

'_In that case… let's hunt.'_

'_Wait. Carlisle… before we go… those humans?'_

'_They're going to the Volturi.' He said solemnly._

'_Are they gifted too?'_

_He sighed. 'No, Edward… they are not.'_

'_Then?' I looked at him in painful understanding._

'_I'm afraid so. They're food.' I closed my eyes at the thought. 'Edward… earlier when you said this was nothing like the rumors you'd heard, I wanted to say something. I'm glad you're taking it in such a manner. It means that you're grasping onto the little humanity that is left in you. I have a feeling you will not be a vicious monster in your lifetime, but I want you to know that you are a special case.'_

'_I seem to be hearing that a lot tonight as well.'_

'_Yes, well… Edward it's the truth. Most newborns would have ripped away from me and killed that entire pack of humans in a heartbeat. Most can't see reason for a long time past their transformation. You see, Edward… most vampires are what the rumors say. Evil. I'm trying to show you a way—' _

'_A way to walk around that… yes, I know. I will try my best, Carlisle.' He smiled in return. 'Carlisle, one more thing.'_

'_Of course…'_

'_Do you attempt this with all the newborns?'_

_He laughed quite heartily. 'Oh Absolutely not! You just showed extreme reason in your thoughts and actions when you woke up that I had to at least try. I'd say you are my first success.'_

_I let out a sigh. It was the first exhalation I had been successful at since I'd awoken, and I realized how easy it had come across and how insignificant I had viewed breathing to be beforehand. It was utterly eye opening. I looked over at Carlisle and saw him smiling at me. I couldn't tell whether he was reading my emotion in expressing this human quality or whether he was simply happy at his own success. 'Let's just see how far I get.'_

_He smiled and clapped me on the back. 'Ready?'_

'_Ready.'_

I decided to talk a nice walk through the woods, rather than run to the meadow this afternoon. The dark forest surrounding my house allowed me to walk outside without fear of revealing myself, but the weather was surprisingly warm on this April afternoon. Fork didn't usually allow the sun to make an appearance until at least late May, if not later. It wasn't very often that I felt heat surge through my body and on this beautiful day I decided to indulge myself.

On my journey I caught the scent of a deer and its fawn. Quickly snapping the necks of both and draining their blood I continued to the meadow, remembering the first time I ever fed. Listening carefully to Carlisle on how we were to break into the prison, and proceed to feed on the inmates, I was terrified I would get caught. It wasn't long before I realized nobody could touch me. The satisfaction that came with feeding off of evil didn't last, however. I soon began to hate the idea of having filthy blood in my system. I didn't want it any longer—criminals or not… I would not be a hypocrite, and I certainly wouldn't feed off of it. That was about the time I ran into Carlisle again and he approached me with the idea of becoming a vegetarian. I jumped at the idea of eliminating human blood from my life. I wanted nothing to do with it, anymore. He told me he had come across three other vampires who were interested in the same lifestyle and that they would be willing to form a coven.

Carlisle explained to me that he had been interested in my journeys and that I had been the first to cross his mind when he had made the change to a vegetarian life. Ten years later, the five of us occupied a nice enough house in the middle of the forest, and then two years after that two more vampires joined our coven. In public, though we rarely appeared together, people assumed we were a family, which was the deciding factor in taking on a family last name. Carlisle chose Cullen. It seemed appropriate as anyone who ever spoke of the coven only ever mentioned how beautiful we all were. Cullen to me was Carlisle's attempt at a little humor.

We rarely spoke to one another. It wasn't until this April afternoon that that began to change, and it only began to change due to a huge mistake on my part.

I lay in the grassy meadow with the wild flowers showering their beautiful scents around me, and the sun blaring on my sparkling chest. I shut my eyes and let out a sigh. Training myself to have to breath in public was difficult, but now I found it relaxing. I liked to consider it as a form of structural relaxation. I couldn't sleep but zoning out with my eyes closed was the closest I could come to it. Just as I had found a comfy patch of grass and let myself travel into a non-existent dream world I caught the scent of a human. They had to be pretty far off still, because I couldn't hear their thoughts, but still… this always happened.

"Can I have some glitter, too?" The voice came from directly behind me, but more terrifying than that… it was the voice of a child. I turned around and found a little girl no older than five or six standing in front of me. Her huge brown eyes took up the majority of her face, and her lips were covered in something red and sticky. It smelled like cherries from where I was standing. I quickly threw on a shirt. I had to think quickly. She'd seen me, but this situation seemed a little different to me. Who was going to believe a five year old? I couldn't kill her. I couldn't turn her… she was still much too young… I had to bring her to the house. Carlisle would know what to do.

"I don't have any with me right now. I have some at my house. Would you like to come with me and get some?" Why couldn't I read her thoughts? This had never happened to me before. Ever. The scent of her blood was divine, but more so than most humans. I couldn't place why it was stronger than most, but I had the extreme urge to delve in deep.

"Um… Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers."

"Well you talked to me first didn't you? So haven't you already broken you're mummy's rule?"

"You're smart!" The sticky cherry sauce around her mouth expanded and began to crack as she smiled, telling me it had been there a lot longer than just a recent lunchtime. "Okay. I'll come with you." She held out her small hand that was covered in dirt, which I assumed was for me to take hold of.

"Doesn't your mummy wash those little hands of yours? They're all dirty!" I said laughing as I obeyed her silent command to hold her hand.

"Well I had to do a lot of climbing to get away from her and Daddy."

"I see." I said, confused… We began to walk in the direction of the house, and I continued to ask, "Why were you running away?"

"Well they're always fighting and I thought since they only care about themselves, it was about time… Don't you think?" I glanced down to find her staring back at me. She was expecting an answer.

"So you really want to be by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself. I'm with you!"

"Well aren't you a smart one."

"I'm almost five you know."

"I see. Well then. You'll be okay without your mummy and daddy then?"

"Eh." She shrugged. I couldn't help but laugh. She was too much. "If they don't need me, I don't need them. I'm a big girl now. It's time I see the real world."

"Oh is it?" I asked holding back my laughter.

"Yes." She nodded firmly. "Now where is the glitter?"

"At my house."

"Where do you live?"

"In the forest."

"Wow. I bet you have lots of tree-houses!"

"What's a tree-house?"

"Are you _kidding_ me? _You_ don't know what a _tree-house_ is?" I laughed and simply shook my head. "It's when your dad takes a lot of wood and builds you a house in a tree. Then you bring all your friends there and you play house. Wow, and I thought you were smart. I can't believe you didn't know what a tree-house was!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Little-miss." I laughed.

"How old are you?" She asked bluntly as she stopped in her tracks to pick up a dandelion.

"Well that's a bit forward, don't you think?"

"What does forward mean?" She asked as she blew the spores of the dandelion into the surrounding air, acting like our conversation was the last thing she could care about.

"Well… you don't even know my name." I said as I kneeled down to her level. I took her other hand, forcing her to drop the stem of the destroyed weed. "And I don't know your name."

"I'm Bella." She said letting go of my hand and picking up another dandelion. "Who are you?"

"My name is Edward Cullen."

"How old are you?"

I let out a burst of laughter. "You are incorrigible aren't you?"

"My mummy says that to me all the time. What does it mean?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

She frowned, and I felt myself begin to melt. "That's what she says too." She picked up another dandelion, however, this time it had petals. She stood in thought and decided to give it me. I took it and smiled wide in thanks. "Can you take me to your house now? I think it's time for my nap. You can show me the glitter after I wake up."

"Well you're quite the good little girl, aren't you?"

"Mummy says I need all the sleep I can get, because soon I won't get any."

I couldn't help but analyze her mother's statement in a manner which horrified me. I knew she was talking of days when her daughter would be in college and would have a job and as a result she would lack sleep, but I couldn't help but relate it to my life. I hadn't slept in decades.

**Author's note: This is my first attempt at writing for Twilight… obviously it's a complete stand alone story so I'm going to need some feedback… please let me know what you think… I imagine these first few chapters will focus on this four year old Bella, but don't worry… it'll keep moving… for now… I kind of like the sassy side of little Bella… -Kay Ludlow **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.**


	2. 2 Teddy Bears and a Treehouse

**Thanks for all the reviews!!!!**

**Twilight Undone**

**Chapter Two**

**Teddy Bears and a Tree-house**

**Edward's POV:**

"And my mommy only has one sister, so I only have one auntie on her side. She's my favorite though because she doesn't care if get hurt or not."

"Don't you care if you get hurt Bella?"

'Eh. No, not really… it kind of happens a lot, you know?" She looked up at me with another expectant look on her face.

"Um… no… I don't know. Why do you get hurt a lot? And why don't you care again?"

"My mommy calls me klumpz, or something… and I guess I just got used to it… My daddy says I'm not a klumpz, but that I'm a champ. Sometimes I like him more than my mommy, but don't tell her I told you that because Daddy says she can get real horny about her motions." She wasn't making any sense at all. Her voice rambling on and on, however, trilled like musical notes and the sweet intentions of everything she was saying brought deep belly laughs out from within me. She truly was just a nice little bundle of joy.

"Well then… you really have a lot to say, don't you Little Miss?"

"Why do you call me that? It isn't my name, you know."

"I'm beginning to sense that you get that hornyness from your mother." I didn't register what I had said until the words had escaped my mouth. '_Thank God she's only four.'_

"Excuse me! I am not horny! It just isn't my name."

I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. She was too much. "Can it be a nickname?"

"My mummy doesn't like nicknames."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"She said she gave me my name for a reason."

"Is your real name Bella?"

"No. It's Isabella."

"Well then, there… you see? Bella is a nickname."

"You're getting smarter again."

Laughing again, I continued, "So do you like nicknames?"

"Why?"

"Well you seem to be very opinionated about everything else."

"What does onionated mean?" Letting out a chuckle I corrected the word and explained to her in five year old terms what it meant. "Oh… I guess. My mommy is always telling me to espress my onions."

"Opinions."

"Right." That's what I said. What did you say?" She looked up at me with a smirk, that just brought further laughter. "Mr. Edward? You think I'm funny, right?" She was being completely serious.

"I think you're very funny Little Miss."

"I didn't tell you if I liked that name yet."

"Oh. Well I'm terribly sorry. Bella it is."

"No, it's fine. I like it."

"Well you certainly made up your mind very quickly."

"My mommy says I can take a very long time making up my mind sometimes, and that it is more polite to answer sooner, and not to leave people waiting."

"Well… you're my friend. You can keep me waiting."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay then. Let me think about it for a while."

"Take as long as you want."

We walked in unexpected silence for a few seconds. I was unaware Bella could keep quiet for that long. It obviously ended quickly, however. "Mr. Edward? Are we almost there?"

"Just around the bend, I promise, and Bella, you can call me Edward." I smiled down at the four year old.

"Can I call you Eddie?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Quite frankly that name is horrible."

"It rhymes with teddy."

"Do I look like a teddy bear, Bella?"

"No. Teddy bears don't sparkle, because they have fur on their skin."

"That's right. So I can't have a name that rhymes with teddy."

"Ohhhhh, okay!" I laughed, thankful she believed my miserable attempt to explain my hatred for the name Eddie in terms she would understand. I couldn't very well tell her it was a terrible name. I hadn't quite sussed out her level of emotions, and I really didn't want a crying Bella on my hands. "I suppose I can call you Edward if you like."

"I would like that very much Bella." I squeezed her hand, careful to be gentle. It was hard enough being gentle with normal sized humans. Her tiny hand in mine petrified me. "Look. We're here."

Her tiny body let out the biggest gasp. "WOW! You didn't tell me you lived in a _real_ tree-house!"

"I thought I might surprise you." She let go of my hand and ran to the door of the house with a tree growing in the middle of it. Carlisle and I had built it ages ago. We thought it appropriate to incorporate nature into our living quarters as it was already supplying our source of survival. She reached the door and found it unlocked. That's when I panicked. She was unaware that there was a household of vampires behind the glass door, and I was wishing Alice had had some sort of vision about us coming. One could only hope. "Bella! Wait!" Obviously, I was too late.

**Alice's POV:**

I had explained the situation to the rest of the household, and we were waiting anxiously in the living room for Edward and his friend to arrive. Carlisle and Emmet sat on either side of Jasper in hopes of controlling him, as he was still having trouble with the whole vegetarian diet. I was a little worried, but I hadn't seen anything about him hurting Edward's little friend. I was more worried about myself. Bella was absolutely adorable; I'd have to make sure I don't find myself stealing her away.

"They're here." I saw Bella at the door and I knew that everyone could smell her. She was rather sweet blooded, and very enticing.

"Bella! Wait!" Edward wasn't far behind her by the sounds of it.

We all waited and listened as the little footsteps amplified more and more as Bella ran through the house. We all watched the entryway to the living room and soon saw the little girl. Surprisingly she stopped right outside; however, she wasn't looking for us. She was staring at the tree. I couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter. That definitely caught her attention.

"Hi there." She said with a smile.

"Hello! You must be Bella!" I said as I skipped over to greet the young girl.

"How did you know that?"

'_Shit. Way to go Alice.' _"Um… well you're very pretty aren't you."

"That's what Bella means, you know." She remarked back bluntly.

"That's what I mean. That's how I knew your name." I smiled.

"Oh. Right." She smiled back at me. "I like you. You're pretty too. Is your name Bella too?"

The whole room burst out into laughter, including Edward who had silently joined us. "Bella, this is Alice, and these are the people I live with. That's Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmet, and Jasper. They're all your friends too."

"Wow. You guys are very lucky!" Everyone assumed she was talking about the fact that they were all her new friends, and we laughed yet again. "You get to live in a real life tree-house!"

"Do you like the tree, Isabella?" Carlisle asked.

"Why did you call me Isabella?"

"It's your name, isn't it?" He asked strictly.

"Well yes… I guess."

"Don't you like your name?"

"I like Bella. My mommy calls me Isabella when she's mad at me."

"I see." He chuckled. There was a slight glimmer in his eye that I couldn't quite place.

"Are you mad at me, Mister?"

"Not at all. I will call you Bella, if you like."

She looked over at Edward for a second and he instantly laughed. Obviously being able to read her thoughts, he knew exactly what she was asking. "It's perfectly okay, if you think about it." Everyone in the room gave Bella and Edward a questioning look when she let out a sigh of relief.

"What's he talking about, Bella?" I asked.

"Edward says it isn't impolite to make your friends wait while you think about making your mind up."

I laughed. "You can think about anything for as long as you like!"

"Mister?" She was directing her attention at Carlisle. "I would like to think about it."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Of course, and you may call me Carlisle."

"Oh. Right. I just couldn't remember how to say it. It's a lot tougher than Edward and it doesn't rhyme with anything. Maybe if you said it slower."

"All right then," he smiled as he lowered himself to eye-level with Bella, "Say it with me… Car-ly-le."

"Car-ly-le." She said it perfectly and then squealed with joy. It was wonderful to see such genuine pride.

"I forgive you, if you make a mistake now and then Bella. It is a much harder name. I understand."

"You're very pretty too." She said as she placed her dirty hand on Carlisle's porcelain skin. I could sense his humor in the little one. I knew Jasper's power didn't have anything to do with this happiness. We could all sense it. She brought a sense of connection to the people in our coven—almost like we were a family. "Can I take my nap now?"

"Your nap?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. Mr. Edward—I mean, Edward—" She corrected herself as she looked back at Edward in the doorway who smiled and winked in her direction, "said I could take my nap when we got here. I had to climb all the way up the biggest mountain to get away from my mommy and daddy and I'm really sleepy now. Where can I sleep?" I loved her bluntness. She certainly had some vampire in her.

Carlisle laughed and offered his bed to the little girl. "It's very big, and there are lots of pillows on it."

Once again looking back at Edward for permission, I watched as he smiled and nodded. "Alice?" She quickly turned to me and held her hand out to me. "Will you show me?"

I jumped at the chance to be alone with the beautiful little girl. She had put some life into this house—something I'd been trying to do for a long time. "Absolutely! Come on then!"

We began to exit the room and Bella began talking at almost an unintelligible speed. "I like your name, you know. It's too bad we don't have the same name. You would be a good Bella. What am I going to wear for pajamas? All of my jammies are at my mommy and daddy's house."

"I have a t-shirt you may borrow if you like."

"Okay, but only if it isn't pink. Mommy always tries to put pink on me and it's so yucky. "

I laughed. "What color shirt would you like?"

"How about a green one." She stated.

I took her inside Carlisle's room, picked her up and placed her on the bed. "Wait right here." I walked out of the room at human speed and vanished to my room. Quickly returning I found her curled up in the same spot, fast asleep. I gently changed her out of her clothes at a speed that she wouldn't detect, and carefully washed her hands off with a washcloth before picking her up and placing her in the center of Carlisle's huge bed, surrounding her with pillows so as to act as a border. I couldn't have her rolling around in her sleep and falling. I then vanished from the room to join the rest of the coven.

**Author's Note: All right… so sort of a filler chapter. Expect some drama next chapter. Please review! **

**--Kay Ludlow**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. **


	3. 3 Chats

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews!!!! Just a reminder… This is Twilight **_**Undone**_** as in a lot of the original story and plot is going to change. Characters and relationships are also subject to this. Onward….**

**Twilight Undone**

**Chapter Three**

**Chats**

**Carlisle's POV:**

"Well at least you picked a cute one to have ruin us." Alice stated angrily as she walked back into the room.

"Alice. Not now."

"Listen. I'm not about to get in trouble with the Volturi because _this_ guy messed up." Rosalie stood up instantly and headed straight towards the door.

"Rose, sit down. You are a part of this—"

She cut me off. "Family? Is that what you were going to say? Part of this _family?_ Because I don't remember the last time we were all in the same room, let alone the last time you and I had a conversation. We aren't a family, Carlisle. We're a coven. I think it's about time you recognize that fact."

"I brought this _coven_ together. It was you who didn't want a family. I made the initial effort and none of you wanted anything to do with the concept. So, I don't want to hear it. Edward brought this child to our house and now _we_ are going to deal with it." I hadn't felt internal heat in centuries, but the anger dwelling in my chest was beginning to light a fire. "Sit down, Rosalie." The blonde vampire dressed in red dress, short and fitted to her bodes as per usual, sat down rather stiffly. It wasn't unusual for her to difficult. She usually proved herself to be the odd one out in terms of outspokenness and she rarely cared about anyone but herself. Though in this situation, I couldn't really blame her… Edward had brought harm to all of us, including little Bella. There really was no knowing what would happen. "All right. We need to talk about what happened. Edward?"

"She just appeared. Out of nowhere!"

"Come off it Edward! You're a vampire for Christ's sake! You're telling me you couldn't smell her a mile off? Let alone hear her thoughts! Jesus, Edward! Do you honestly think we're stupid?" Rosalie shouted.

"Will you shut up and listen? You're going to wake up Bella!"

"Right, because she's my main priority right now." She snapped.

"Rose. Bella is a part of this. She's completely innocent. She had no knowing what she would find in the meadow, and she still doesn't know. She's only a child. We cannot subject her to our world, for the sake of her safety, and ours." I stated calmly. _'She's only a child.'_ "Edward, please…"

"I couldn't hear her thoughts. And I only caught her scent once she was right behind me. I had no time to react! It shocked me just as much as it shocked you. This is the first time I haven't been able to hear someone's thoughts. How was I supposed to react? She saw me in the sun! She saw my skin! I had to come up with something! I couldn't turn her… she's much too young! She'd be uncontrollable and the Volturi would be on our back within no time. I couldn't kill her… let alone the fact that I'm completely incapable psychologically, the effects of that would only result in uproar. This place was my last resort." I could see the panic in his eyes. "Carlisle, you were the one who taught me humanity in this evil existence. I knew you would know what to do. It was my only choice."

"You did the right thing, Son." The word rung in my voice differently than it ever had before. I'd always considered Edward close to me. He was the one person I could rely on to bring everyone together. It broke my heart when he figured it was no longer worth it. The vampires in my coven didn't care about one another. They were only joined by the humanity they wished to savor. I could tell the rest but I let Edward know just how thankful I was in his bringing Bella to our house. Perhaps she could prove the impossible… she seemed to be good at it so far. "We have to talk about what is going to happen. We have a few options. Edward, how did you get Bella to come with you?"

"Uh… she told me she didn't need her mother and father anymore, that they were always fighting, and that simply she was sick of it." He let out a chuckle, "If I remember correctly, she told me it was time she see the world." I heard Rosalie and Alice giggle quietly. Jasper and Emmet, on the other hand, hadn't spoken a word yet.

"Okay. I'm sure her parents are worried sick about her. We're going to have to inform them that we found their daughter wandering around the woods." I instructed.

"What about the Volturi?" Jasper finally chimed in.

"Well, that's where our options come in. If we inform them of our dilemma, they may take harsh actions. They could very well intend on killing Bella's parents."

"Why would they kill her parents? What about Bella?" Emmet asked.

"Well considering Edward was incapable of catching her scent or hearing her thoughts, they would want to examine her. She could possibly have a gift in which case, they would require her to come of age and then they would change her against her will."

"And the other options?" Rosalie asked.

"Wait!" We all turned to Alice, and watched as her eyes zoned out, turning black and informing us that she was receiving a vision.

"What is it Alice?" I asked, but she was completely unvoiced. It was very rare that Alice couldn't communicate during a vision. "Alice?" But she didn't answer. She fell unconscious. It was impossible. We didn't have beating hearts or living brains! How could her system shut down like that? "ALICE! WAKE UP!" She immediately awoke. "Alice! What happened? What did you see?"

She rubbed her eyes. "My eyes. They're burning! Make it stop Carlisle!"

"Quick! Edward, get a glass of water and a washcloth!" He was back seconds later, and I began to dab the water gently over her eyes. She soon revived, but when I removed the cloth from her eyes they were rounded with red rims. "Alice?"

"I'm okay. They're just a bit sore." She said sitting up on her own. "Carlisle."

"What vision did you have Alice?"

"I didn't. It was a flashback. Bella's parents… they're already dead."

"What? How do you know this?"

"The vision was of her parents calling the police because Bella had gone missing. Two vampires showed up in police uniform and killed them both."

I let out a sigh and buried my head in my hands, rubbing my eyes heavily. "How did you know it was a flashback?"

"It's sunset now. The time of the vision had to have been about three o'clock pm."

I looked up quickly at her, and asked, "Could it be tomorrow that this happens?"

"Bella's mother stated her daughter had disappeared 'this morning.'" Her voice was breaking, and I understood why. None of us knew this little girl, but she definitely didn't deserve to be orphaned on the part of our people.

"How can we be sure that what you're saying is actually true, Alice?" Jasper asked.

"Emmet, Jasper. You two are going to check. Alice. Where does the family live?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't see the outside of the house, but by the looks of it he's a policeman himself. I saw a badge."

That's when it hit me. Bella… "Isabella Swan. She's the sheriff's daughter."

"What?"

"You saw a badge… don't you remember a few years ago? There was an article in the newspaper about the sheriff's wife having a little girl. She was named, Isabella. I'd be my money that's the same little girl sleeping in my bed."

"We'll go and check the Swan residence, Carlisle." Emmet said standing up.

"Wait. We have to decide what to do in the worst case situation." Rosalie said.

"I agree." I said, nodding. "If her parents are, in fact, dead we're going to have to take this into our own hands."

"But the Volturi!" Rosalie yelled.

"We'll have to deal with them when the time comes. Until then if Alice's flashback is the truth, which to Bella's misfortune I suspect it is, I will work with child services to make sure we can adopt the little one. I have connections with them through the hospital."

"But she's a human child!"

"Which is why we are going to have live like humans." I emphasized strictly. "Even more so than we do. We are going to be this little girl's family. She already looks up to Edward." Rosalie was about to interrupt again, but I stopped her. "We're all she's got, Rose, and she can't stand up to the Volturi on her own."

"That is if they find out about her." Edward included.

"Yes, well let's hope that they don't for a very long time. Until then, this has to work out. For Bella's sake, and our own. If the Aro and his brothers find out what happened and they realize we've been raising her until she's of age they might reconsider killing us as cohorts in this endeavor."

"So we're going to lie to them, and to Bella?" Jasper asked.

"It will work. I've just seen it. Bella will be a part of us. She will bring us together and we're going to be a family."

"Well that's just fine and dandy, isn't it? Bella get's a family, we get to put our eternal lives on the line and everyone is just happy as peach? That's not how things work!" Rosalie yelled.

"Rose! Listen! What other choice do we have? If we call the Volturi now, we subject the entire coven and Bella to death."

"No!" Edward yelled. "I won't allow that. We will take care of her. It was your intention for me to join this coven as a family and I thought it was useless, but now I have the tools to do so."

"Bella is not a tool, Edward! She's a human child!"

"Yes, and she's going to turn us into a family, damn it!" He screamed, bearing his teeth.

"Edward calm down." Edward left the room to cool off. "It's settled then. She is furthermore… a Cullen. Jasper, Emmet?" They both nodded and vanished from the room to secure the facts on Bella's parent's death. "I'm going down to the hospital immediately. I'm going to destroy the Swan family file. Alice, I need you to destroy all legal information about the family. There can't be any evidence of extended family."

"The Swans don't have any extended family, Carlisle. The Sheriff's parents died young and last year his wife's parents were killed in a car accident."  
"That's right, I remember." I sighed. "What about brothers and sisters?"

"Not that I know of, but I'll check and destroy everything." She affirmed.

"What about me?" Rosalie asked.  
"I wasn't aware you wanted any part in this." Edward sneered.

"Shut up you foul—"

"Rose!" I quickly cut her off. "If you want to be a part of this, you are very welcome. I was hoping you could be here when Bella woke up."

"No. I'll be here." Edward snapped. "I found her. I did this to her. She's my responsibility."

"You shall both be here. Edward, she looks up to you. But she just lost her family and she's going to need…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold it. I found her, and I understand she needs a father, and I gladly take that job, but Rose doesn't get to be the mother."

"Edward, you're being immature. I just meant that she's going to need comfort at this time. She finds that in you, and I figured since Rosalie has always wanted children she would find a way to contribute her motherly instincts with Bella. We don't know how she's going to deal with her parents death, and I'm counting on you two to convince her with a very subtle story, okay?" There was no answer. "Okay?"

It was like dealing with children. They both nodded. It was then that I finally noticed Esme. She hadn't said one word during this conversation. "Esme? Are you okay?" She was just sitting on the couch zoning out. "Esme?"

"Hmm? Oh… yes. I'm just thinking about a few things." She stood up and straighten out her skirt. "I think I might go and help Alice." Then she vanished.

"That was odd." Edward said.

"You are such an idiot sometimes! She was thinking about her miscarriage. You know for all the logic you claim to possess you sure are blind!"

"Rosalie, that's enough. Look, this is going to be hard for Esme. I wouldn't put it past her to distance herself from Bella out of instinct." I frowned. "She's already lost a child and I doubt she'll ever want to go through that again." The two vampires nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'm off to the hospital. Can you take care of Bella?"

"We've got this, Carlisle." Edward assured me, and I vanished from the room heading for the hospital.

**Edward's POV:**

Rosalie followed me up the stairs, at least five paces behind me. "Careful what you say to her."

"I'm not stupid, Edward!"

"I'm not talking about that. I mean, she's crafty and has a way of twisting your words. Just… be careful… she's really smart."

Rosalie laughed. "I expect that means she's got you wrapped around her tiny little finger."

"Shut up." I grumbled. We arrived at Carlisle's room and I gently pushed the door open. Bella lay fast asleep curled up with one of Carlisle's pillows.

"Wow." She whispered.

"She looks so tiny in Carlisle's bed. So… breakable."

I thought back to when Bella had told me she got hurt a lot, and smiled at Rosalie's conjecture. "She certainly does."

"Well do we wake her up, or wait until she wakes up on her own?"

"Let's wait another half an hour and then if she hasn't woken up, we'll go get her."

"Good thinking," she agreed, "if we let her sleep too long, she won't sleep tonight. It's already six o'clock."

"What time do children normally go to bed?"

"I don't know." She snapped.

"Well you're supposed to know everything about children. You claim to _love_ them so much."

"Ugh. Just shut up. I'll do some research and we'll learn. In the meantime, I'll be in my room." She walked away and I couldn't help but want to sit and watch the little girl sleep. I'd forgotten what it felt like to sleep, and the thought of watching her in such a peaceful state intrigued me. I pushed the door back open, sat in Carlisle's armchair that he used to read, and waited patiently for Bella to wake up. Her breath amplified throughout the room and I couldn't help but feel envy for the fact that she didn't have to force the oxygen through her. She didn't have to train herself to breathe. Everything about her was perfectly natural.

I decided to read a little bit from one of Carlisle's medical journals, and found myself growing jealous again. It all seemed so intriguing… practicing medicine. I couldn't comprehend how Carlisle controlled himself enough to be around that much blood. It fascinated me. If I ever found a way to control my thirst like he did, medicine would be a dream come true. The multiple tracks and all the information would keep me busy for years.

As I flipped through the journal and learned about different cardiothoracic details, I heard movement in the sheets. Bella was beginning to stir, and I quickly went to get Rose. When we got back she was sitting straight up, looking around the room.

"How did I get in this shirt?"

"Didn't Alice give it to you?" I asked as I went to sit next to her on the bed. Rosalie remained in the doorway. I looked back at her, and reaffirmed her anxious thoughts, "It's okay, Rose… come on." She slowly edged her way to the bed, and climbed onto the foot of the mattress.

"Is she always like this?" Bella asked.

I laughed. "No, she's usually really loud and very opinionated." Rosalie reached over and smacked me.

Bella let out a high pitched giggle and said directly to Rose, "Don't worry! Edward says I have onions too!"

Rosalie couldn't help but laugh. "I wish I knew what that meant!"

"Did you have a good nap, Little Miss? Oh… sorry… I promised to give you time on that, didn't I?"

Bella smiled, "its ok. I like it. I decided for real this time."

While smiling at the connection we'd made, I remembered why we were there, and it quickly vanished. "Bella, did you have a good nap?"

"Uh-huh. I dreamt about the meadow where I found you, and I had glitter too!"

"Wow… that sounds like a very good dream."

"Yeah! Can I have some glitter now?"

"Uh, Bella… Sweetie… we ran out of glitter, but Alice—you remember Alice?"

"The pretty one?"

I looked over at Rosalie to see how she would take that, and smirked at the annoyed facial reaction plastered where her usually composed face sat. "Yes, that's right." I glance over at Rose, again, and said "the _pretty_ one… She's gone to get a lot more glitter for you! How does that sound?"

"It would be better if I had some glue and colored paper to do arts and crafts with." She stated, making Rose let out a small burst of laughter.

"I'll see what I can do." I smiled, looking over at Rose indicating that she would need to contact Alice and inform her of our arts and crafts dilemma. She returned the look with a painful expression, pointing out that we still needed to break the hard news to the darling little girl in front of us. I nodded in response. "Bella… Rosalie and I need to talk to you about something."

"When do I have to go home? Is my mommy going to pick me up, or my daddy? Hopefully, it's my daddy. He always flashes the lights on his car when he picks me up." She smiled as she stood up. She began picking up the pillows and placing them in their proper places.

"Bella what are you doing?"

"Mommy always told me I wasn't allowed to leave the house until my bed was made." Rose and I both chuckled. "That Car-ly-le sure does have a lot of pillows. Do you all sleep in this bed with him?"

"Ha! Not at all Little Miss. But Bella, we have to talk to you about your mummy and daddy." She immediately dropped the pillow and stood still. She didn't turn to face us, but we could tell she was deep in thought about what we could possibly have to say about her parents. "Are you still upset with them?"

"Well…" She turned around slowly and sat down. "A little bit. But usually when my mommy and daddy fight, and they lose me they'll take me out to get ice cream so it's usually okay." She hugged one of the pillows tightly and played with the fringe around the rim of the silk square. Her tiny eyes made their way to stare into mine. "There isn't going to be any ice cream this time, is there?"

"I'm afraid not sweetie."

"Bella? Would you like to sit in my lap and I'll play with your hair while Edward talks?"

"Are you going to tug like my mommy? I hate it when she pulls my hair. She likes to pretend that I'm a Barbie, but that sort of scares me because I like to pull their heads off. You're not going to pull my head off, are you?"

Rosalie laughed, shook her head, and patted her lap. "Come here."

Bella climbed into her lap and asked, "Where are my mommy and daddy?"

"They've gone away for a little bit, darling."

"Where. Have. They. Gone?" She spoke in such a broken manner, but her tone held happiness. She finally showed an ounce of innocence.

"Paradise." Rosalie quickly stated.

"Wow. When are they coming back?" She looked up at me and I didn't have the heart to speak. She picked up on the context clue and quickly looked back down at the pillow, and began playing with it again. "They aren't going to come back are they?"

"Sweetie… Paradise is a very nice place and you haven't done anything wrong."

"Where am I going to live?"

"Well, Rosalie and I were thinking… and… how would you like to live in our tree-house?"

"Really? Is that allowed?"

"Only if it's what you want."

"Who is going to give me baths?"

I instantly looked at Rosalie with a petrified look plastered on my face. "Well… uh… Bella… you see… um… well who would you like to give you your baths?"

"It doesn't matter, just as long as you make sure not to tickle my feet when you scrub my toes, and make sure you don't get the soap in my eyes, because that will make me cry. And you've got to make sure to put lots of condish in my hair because it gets really tangly."

"How about Rosalie and Alice give you your baths? They really like to look pretty and I bet they know all the bath tub secrets!"

"There aren't any bath tub secrets. He isn't very smart." She directed at Rosalie who laughed out loud.

"Hey!" I began to tickle the little girl who immediately went into a giggling fit of screaming and wriggling. Careful not to crush her tiny body, we finally fell back onto the bed, and I let out a sigh. She was taking this remarkably well, though I couldn't tell for sure whether or not she really knew what was going on. "Bella? Sweetie? Are you upset?"

She averted her eyes away from us in thought. "Darling it's okay to be upset." Rosalie added.

"I know, but my daddy always told me that crying is for people who don't have time to be happy. I like being happy."

"Well that's good then. Listen to your daddy. He was a great daddy, I bet."

"Eh. He had his moments." She said causing us to laugh. "When is Alice coming back with my glitter?"

"I was supposed to get glitter?" We turned around and found her standing in the doorway with Carlisle, Esme, Emmet and Jasper behind her.

"Edward said you had run out!" I instantly flashed her a glare and she quickly picked up on the fact that she couldn't really ask questions. "And he said you would get me colored paper and glue!"

"Well then! It looks like I've got to go to the store! I hope it's still open." Alice smiled. "Bella would you like to come with me?"

"Well which one of you is going to feed me?"

"Well how about you and I go out for dinner? Would you like that?"  
"I don't have a dress with me. My mommy always makes me wear a dress when we go out. I hate it."

"Well how about we just get pizza? How does that sound?"

"I like pizza. That's good."

Alice couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter. "Well let's get you back into your clothes and get on the road, shall we?" Bella stood up quickly on the bed, almost losing her balance, and quickly hopped off, landing with all fours on the ground. Her t-shirt was touching the ground as she toddled over to where Alice was holding her clothes. The two left the house and the rest of us decided to reconvene in the living room.

**Author's Note: Okay… soooo…. Let me know what you think… more to come soon! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. **


	4. 4 Impending Visitors

**Twilight Undone**

**Chapter Four**

**Impending Visitors**

**Carlisle's POV:**

We walked downstairs separately. I knew this was going to take some effort on everyone's part, but I didn't see how it would work at all if nobody actually put forth said effort. Nobody said a word until we were all sitting amongst one another in the den. "All right… who wants to go first? Edward? Rosalie? How about you guys? It seemed as though Bella took the news rather well. She didn't seem too broken up about it. What did you guys say to her?"

"We've got a smart one on our hands guys." Edward smiled.

"Yeah… when we told her that her parents went to Paradise and that they weren't coming back, she pretty much put the pieces together and figured it out."

"And she wasn't upset at all?" Emmet asked.

"Well she was, but it seems to me like she's been so closed off from her parents due to their fighting and such that she's built some sort of barrier to block out her emotions." Edward said. "She said she was a little bit upset but that she didn't want to be sad."

"Wow. That's pretty remarkable. Most adults don't even have that ability."

"Yeah it seems to me that she doesn't really know what it's like to have a family, and that's the reason it didn't bother her that much. She wasn't really losing much." Rosalie added.

"See, that's what doesn't make sense to me; she never stops talking about her mummy and daddy." Edward said with a questioning tone in his voice.

"Edward, you have to keep in mind that she's a four-year-old little girl. She doesn't even go to school yet. Her parents are all she knows. And just because they didn't show her the correct attention, does not mean that she didn't put forth an effort to show that she still loved them. They have, for better or for worse, raised her and she's going to apply that to her life for quite some time, I suspect. She's still at that age where she is molded by what goes on around her. By the way she talks about them, it's obvious that she has grown comfortable with it, which means we have to maintain that level of security, and if that means we have to do a few things the way that she's used to… then so be it."

"I wasn't going to deprave her of what she wants and needs Carlisle. I just thought her mentality of the situation was odd."

"I'll say it again. She's four years old. She is not going to have concrete thoughts and decisions all the time, and sometimes she'll be very concrete. That's how children work. We'll have to play along for a while until she grows comfortable with us, but eventually we'll have to enforce some discipline and rules."

"It seems to me like we're already following her rules." Edward put forth with a chuckle.

I smiled, "And although it isn't causing problems right now, we are now responsible for this little girl. That means we are liable for her upbringing. We're going to have to teach her things like manners, how to eat her vegetables, proper hygiene, her abc's, etc.… those sorts of things… it may all sound like fun and games but it's going to be difficult. We have the advantage of there being several of us and only one of her, but still. We also have to consider the fact that she's human. We, by no means, can tell her what we are. We're going to have to make a few adjustments, and that too is going to be difficult."

"So," Rosalie began, "I'm under the impression that you succeeded at destroying her family file and that she's up for our adoption?"

"Even better. Not only did I find her family file and destroy any evidence of family, which Alice was right in saying that she had none, but I spoke to child services in the hospital and I managed to swing the paperwork for her adoption. After her legal guardian or guardians sign and get it authorized with child services the adoption will be complete, and Bella will be ours." I said with a smile.

"Just like that?" Emmet asked. "How did you swing that?"

"Amy in child services owes me a few favors. She pulled a few strings and granted me access to the paperwork. I'm a well known man in the hospital and well trusted due to that. I don't usually take advantage of the connections I have, but I didn't really have a choice this time around."

"So they just up and let you adopt her, no questions asked?"

"Well I had to sit through a twenty minute questioning, and really Edward should have been there, but they understand that the living situation isn't merely going to be a father daughter one, but that we will all be raising her. I answered questions as the authority member of the family, though I daresay after Edward and possibly Rosalie sign the papers that title will shift in this household to them." I smiled and looked at the two vampires who were sitting on opposite sides of the sofa. "Have you thought about whether you would like help in this department, Edward?"  
"I thought you said we were all in this together."

"We are… but would you legally like to have someone help you? As in, would you like Rosalie to sign on as the girl's mother?"

Edward looked over at Rose. She looked rather nervous as though, if she were capable, she might be sick. "What do you think Rose? Do you want to be a part of this?"  
"I don't know if it's a good idea." She said looking down to the ground. "I might be bad at it."  
"You? Bad at raising a child? Rose you were practically born to do this."

"Maybe when I was human… I just… what happens if I mess up?"

"What happens if any of us mess up?" I asked. "It's bound to happen Rose. We have to think of this in terms of Bella being a new born. We aren't perfect and we can't expect to be perfect parents."

"Right, but you wouldn't have the title of her mother."

"Rose… it's up to you, but I think you'd be wonderful."

"I agree." Esme stood up, nodding. "Rose. My child was taken from me, and ever since then I haven't been able to be a mother. I've taken it as a sign. Somebody didn't want me to be a mother, and well… they got their wish. This is something you have always wanted. I know you and I haven't talked much since we met, but I know you'd be making a mistake if you didn't sign those papers with Edward." Rosalie looked back over at Edward who gave her a sheepish smile and a shrug. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Thanks Rose."

"Someone's going to have to keep you in line with her."

Edward laughed, "And she's back in action!"

I turned to face Emmet and Jasper. "What did you guys find out?"

"Well it's as Alice saw. Bella's parents are dead. We got rid of the bodies as soon as we found them."

"I find it hard to believe that Charlie Swan would just up and open the door to two cops whom he didn't know." I said with a frown.  
"Well I have a feeling it was Mrs. Swan who opened the door and invited them in. We found her right by the door. The sheriff was upstairs in what we presumed to be Bella's room."

"Alice." I said turning around to her. "You didn't say much about the vampires in your vision besides the fact that they showed up to the front door, dressed in police uniforms."

"Well I couldn't see who opened the door, because the two attacked almost immediately. They didn't waste any time."

"Could you tell who they were? Were there any distinguishing characteristics?" I asked.

"Not that I could tell, though one was rather short. Um… both brunette… by the length of the shorter one's hair it was a female. That's about it, I'm afraid."

"Short, brunette, female?" Edward asked, directing his question at me as though he was hinting I should understand where he was going with his inquiry.

I nodded. "Jane. The Volturi are here already."

"But that was so fast!" Rosalie practically screamed. "How could they possibly have figured out that Bella had seen Edward in the sun? She'd barely arrived at the house!"

"Calm down Rosalie. I'm asking the same questions, okay?"

"They weren't here to punish her." Esme spoke quietly.

"What's that Esme? Speak up dear." I said sympathetically.

"It has to be something else regarding Bella." She said lifting her head up to face the group. "Think about it. They must already know that Bella has this strange quality. Why else would the Volturi send out their marksmen to the middle of nowhere, Washington?"

"It is a possibility." I said. "And if they were Volturi, it makes sense why Mrs. Swan opened the door to two strange cops."

"What do you mean?" Emmet asked.

"Well think about it. She's the sheriff's wife. She's bound to recognize the rest of his men. I wouldn't put it past the Volturi to have sent a member of their coven who could persuade people to do what they wanted… i.e. make Renee answer the door."

"Wait… like a vampire who can put people in a trance? Like all the rumors." I nodded. "Ha! What a riot. A vampire like the movies. Who would have guessed?" The rest of us laughed quietly at Emmet's capability to simply amuse himself.

"So why are they here?" Edward asked.

"Well don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that the day Edward finds a little girl in the meadow whom he can't hear the thoughts of and can barely catch her scent, that her parents are killed by the Volturi , a clan that is very much interested in humans with natural gifts?" Esme asked the group.

"You think Aro wants her? But she's so young!" Rose argued.

"Rose, no one is disagreeing with you. It would make much more sense for Aro to send his men to watch over Bella while she grew up and then attack once she is of age. Why they would kill her parents now confuses me, too. They would be in the same situation as we are if they took her now. It doesn't make any sense. Aro isn't usually this careless." We then sat in silence for a few minutes, before another thought came to me. "I haven't caught the scent of vampires yet." The rest of the coven looked up at me in thought, and I watched as their faces transformed to their own realization of the same fact. "This is quite odd. What about you Edward? Have you heard any thoughts on your daily journeys?"

He shook his head to my dismay, "Nope, not recently at least."

"What does this mean, Carlisle?" Esme asked me.

"Well I suppose it means it was a recent decision of Aro's." I shrugged unknowingly.

"No, that makes sense!" Alice chimed in excitedly. "Think about it! When do I usually have my visions?" We all looked at her with confused faces, not knowing where she was going with her train of thought. "Right after the person in question makes their decision! So maybe the vision I had earlier wasn't actually a flashback…"

"It was the effect of Aro making the decision." I finished her thought. "Your mind picked up on a different visual aspect of his decision."

"That's never happened, though." Emmet said incredulously.

"Be that as it may, it makes sense for Alice's ability to broaden itself under the condition that she is seeing the future, than it is for her to develop and entirely new ability… especially this late in her life as a vampire. There's no way she could be considered in a new born's condition where her abilities are still revealing themselves."

"I think you're right, Carlisle." Alice agreed.

"So Aro wants Bella, and he's already making his move, which means it won't be long before they get here." Rosalie stated. "What about Bella? They're going to find out what happened. All Aro needs to do is touch the little girl and he will know the truth. What are we going to do? We can't let them find her."

The room exploded into uproar, led by Rosalie and Edward, and yet again I had to step in to calm everyone. "Guys! We aren't going to get anywhere if we argue with one another." Everyone looked at me in shock as though they were in disbelief that I should do such a thing; I wasn't their father, after all.

"Carlisle is right." Esme finally spoke up. She turned to Carlisle, and beckoned for him to continue by nodding her head.

"We're going to let them find us." I held my hand up to stop the almost instant arguing. "When they arrive Edward and I are going to explain to Aro exactly what happened. Bella will be in the room… if nothing her attitude will charm Aro into our favor. We're then going to explain that we noticed she was out of the ordinary and that we were planning on bringing her to Volterra for further examination."

"Absolutely not!" Edward yelled.

"Listen to me, Edward. We're going to explain that we had plans to bring her to Volterra to petition to raise her until she was of age, and ask that after her transformation she could be a part of our coven, if she so wished."

"But we aren't going to transform her!"

"Yes, well I know that, and we can walk around that when the time comes, but we'll have a good thirteen years or so to figure that part out. The point is we will have to get the Volturi on our side if we don't want Bella to be thrown to the vampires at the age of four. She absolutely can_not_ be raised in Volterra. It's a terrifying place for adults let alone children. Not to mention she's already attached to you Edward, and I'm sure she's forming connections with Rosalie and Alice already, too. It isn't fair to leave her to the Volturi right now, not after she lost her parents."

"I agree with Carlisle. I wouldn't subject any human to the Volturi if I had a choice." Rosalie added.

"There has to be another way." Edward said through his teeth.

"Edward… you choose. You're her guardian." Carlisle said.

"I am too." Rose chimed in quickly.

Edward laughed with an underlying mocking tone. "Ten minutes ago you didn't think you were capable of it."

"Yes well that was then, this is now. I'm her guardian too, and I also have a say in what goes on."

"Rosalie is right, Edward." I said with a fatherly face that implied warning.

"I think we should listen to Carlisle." Rose stated in a matter of fact tone.

"No."

"Yes. Listen, if we don't do as he says, then we automatically subject Bella to the Volturi. At least this way there is a possibility we can manipulate things into our favor." She argued. "Carlisle used to be one of them. He can talk to Aro."

"She's right, Edward."  
"Will you stop saying that?" He grumbled. He looked around the room and saw that everyone was looking at him with the same face. They were all telling him that he should listen to me. For Bella's sake, it was safer. Eventually letting out a sigh, he agreed, "Fine. But what do we do until they come. What happens if they still take her away?"  
"If they take her away, there isn't much we can really do."  
"That is unacceptable!"  
"Edward!" I yelled for the first time in a decades. "We are going to do everything within our ability to make sure nothing happens to her, but until the Volturi arrives we can't do besides wait."

"So we build her a family out of scratch, and then if she's taken, that's it?"

"Edward, if and when the time comes, I promise we will make sure Bella is okay." I tried as hard as I could to calm him, but he could read my thoughts better than any. "We will find a way to keep her with us." I could sense that he wanted to say something more, but before he had the chance we all her the door click open followed by the voice of a charming young four year old.

**Edward's POV: **

"And I get to go to big school next year, and then I won't have to go to daycare ever again!" Bella was absolutely ecstatic as she came through the door, and by the sound of Alice's thought's she was thoroughly amused. I decided to welcome them, and immediately removed myself from the living room to find them in the hallway; Alice trying to pull an oversized sweatshirt off of Bella's headless body.

"Where did Bella go?" I asked laughing.

"I don't know… Her head just disappeared! Where ever could it be?" I watched as Alice looked around the vicinity of the sweater that was still covering Bella's head and laughed as I heard the little girl giggling inside.  
Bella finally pulled the sweatshirt off her head and squealed, "I'm right here! I fooled you!"

I pretended to be thoroughly shocked, as I clasped my hand to heart and faked a huge gasp of breath. "Bella! I thought you lost your head! How did you do that?"

"I can't tell you." She giggled.

"Why not?"

"Because," she looked up at Alice for confirmation, and when she got the go ahead she smiled and looked back at me saying, "a magicmachine never tells its secrets. Alice said so."

I laughed as I walked over to the little girl and picked her up, "I think you mean magician, Little Miss."

"That's what I said." She said as she pulled my hair, causing me to pull back in laughter once again.

"Did you have a good dinner?" I asked.

"Yes, I did." She said with a strict manner of fact tone in her little voice. "But guess what?"

"What?" I said adjusting her body in my grip.

"Alice doesn't like pizza!" I looked over at Alice who was laughing at her new friend, and I shook my head smiling.

"She doesn't?" Bella shook her head as though this were a very serious issue. "Well she's just strange! Who doesn't like pizza?"

"That's what I said!" Her eyes lit up at the possible phenomenon that two people could share a thought. "I also told her she was being dumb, because nobody hates pizza."

"Well you're probably right, but I think it's time you get to bed missy. We have a long day tomorrow."

"We do?"

"Yes, but it's a surprise." I smiled as I watched her little smile grow even wider. "But you have to march up to Carlisle's bed right now." She began to wriggle out of my arms, and I quickly placed her little feet on the ground. I laughed deeply as I watched her tiny legs scramble up the stairs to Carlisle's bedroom. "Alice, I'd run after that little monster if I were you." Alice then quickly skipped up the steps behind our new member of the household.

**Alice's POV:**

I walked into Carlisle's bedroom to find the little girl bouncing on the king sized sleigh bed. It was obviously a mistake to let her have two mountain dews with her pizza. "Hey! What did Edward say about you going to bed?" The little girl immediately fell to her knees and let out a soft mischievous giggle.

"Who me?" She smirked.

"Yes you!" I ran to the bed, ridiculously slow, I might add, and jumped on board. The little girl immediately started crying out in joy as she began jumping around me on the bed. Letting her have her fun for a minute, I eventually caught sight of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. It was already eleven o'clock. Bella needed to get to bed. I had no idea what time little girls went to bed, but I knew it was nowhere near this late. I scooped her tiny body up in my arms and slammed her body down into the cushion. She immediately squealed in a fit of laughter. "Now, listen you! You've got to get to bed or you aren't getting a surprise tomorrow."

"Quick!" She yelled as she began throwing the decorative pillows aside. "Get me in bed! I'm going to get caught!" I laughed as I watched her quickly tuck herself in and shut her eyes extremely tight. "If you could turn off the light, but make sure to leave the door open a little bit that would be great." Her eyes remained shut as she waited for me to fulfill her requests, but instead I just laughed.

"You are still in your clothes, silly! Don't you want your green shirt?"

She didn't let one eye open. "What if Edward comes in and sees that I'm still awake?"

"He won't. I promise. Come on now. Chop! Chop!" I helped the little one out of her overalls and tiny red t-shirt and tucked her nicely into Carlisle's bed. I walked to the door and asked just how much she wanted the door to be left ajar. When she was content I reached in the room and flipped the light switch. "Goodnight, Bella!"

"Goodnight, Bella…" She said mischievously making me giggle to myself. " Oops! I mean Alice!" Listening to Bella laugh hysterically at her own joke made me laugh all the way down the stairs, as I went to join the rest of the group.

I skipped into the den to find that everyone was sitting silently, barring Edward and Carlisle. They were missing.

**Author's note: Okay…. Let me hear your thoughts!**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Twilight. **


	5. 5 Pointless Inquisition

**Chapter Five**

**The Pointless Inquisition **

**Alice's POV:**

"Where's Carlisle and Edward?" I asked looking around the room making sure I hadn't missed them amongst the rest.

"Aro's here." Rosalie answered stoically. I had never found much reason to like her in the past. She'd always come off as a cold blooded bitch, to be honest. I was honestly surprised to hear Carlisle suggest her to sign on as Bella's mother. Obviously my first bet was Esme, but it was completely understandable to find that she had immediately distanced herself in the way she did. I was, however, slightly insulted to see that he chose Rose over me. How he didn't see the blossoming relationship that Bella and I had was beyond me, but on the other hand, I'd stopped expecting that people could see what I did a long time ago.

"Already?" I panicked.

"Yeah, it's a long story." Emmet grumbled, "But he's here, all right… all three of them are downstairs talking about Bella right now."

"But I didn't even see it!" I argued. My visions, or lack thereof, were beginning to get on my nerves with their mood swings. "When did they get here?"

"About five minutes ago." Carlisle said from the doorway.

"What's going on, Carlisle?" Rosalie asked with a worried expression upon her face. Quite frankly, she was beginning to annoy me with all of her newfound motherly antics.

"I left Aro with Edward downstairs. He came to Forks when Jane and Felix couldn't find Bella in the Swan house. He was going to ask to stay here, but when he came in the front door and caught her scent, he knew she was nearby. He did admit to thinking she was still about a mile away, which is only emphasizing the fact that it seems she's capable of blocking our senses; however, Edward is currently in the process of explaining what happened earlier today, and Aro wants me to fetch Bella."

"I just put her to bed." I informed him. "She was completely wired on sugar when I left her, so I doubt she'll object to coming back downstairs." I watched as Carlisle's somber face relaxed slightly as he thought of the good humor that Bella brought upon us all, and then as his mouth formed a fully-fledged smile. As I focused on his face, and more significantly his dark eyes, I watched the reflection of Bella tip-toeing down the stairs causing myself to smile in response. I turned around, put my hands on my hips, and trying very hard not laugh I said, "And what do you think you're doing down here, Missy?"

She stopped dead in her tracks, and looked straight at me with her big brown eyes, growing wider by the second. "Uh…" She looked down at her hands and began to pick at something as though to give her time to think up the correct response. "What are… what are _you_ doing down here?" At that point, I just couldn't help but laugh. She was too adorable for her own good. She knew just how to get what she wanted and I honestly couldn't blame her, because before she showed up, I was the older version of her. The coven could care less about one another and it was up to me to liven the place up if I could. I wasn't used to living in such silence. It was hard enough living in Forks. I was used to big cities, noise, passion… everything Forks was not. It was exciting to know that there was someone else amongst the people I lived with that would help me bring life back to the living dead.

"I'm not the one who's supposed to be in bed!" I said attempting a stern tone, while completely failing at my attempt to hold back my laughter.

She averted her eyes to avoid confrontation, and finally succumbed to answer. "I… uh… need a drink of water?"

Carlisle chuckled and said, "Bella it's ok. Alice will get you a glass of water and I want you to come downstairs to meet a friend of mine."  
"That's okay. I don't _really _need a glass of water. I just couldn't sleep, and nobody read me a bedtime story." She said as she finished bouncing down the stairs on her backside one step at a time.

Carlisle met her at the bottom and kneeled down to her level. "Bella, we've never had a little girl live with us before so we don't have everything that you need just yet, but I was thinking that after Edward shows you your surprise tomorrow that you might like to go shopping with Alice and Rosalie to pick out some new toys and get you some clothes. Or if you like we can pick up your old toys and clothes from your old house."

"Well…" She said, raising her eyes to ponder seriously over the situation, "I don't really like my old clothes. My mummy always made me wear pink, even though I always told her that it was yucky."

"I promise. No pink." He said making her smile. "Now come downstairs with me and meet my friend." He stood up and she reached out her arms resulting in him looking at her inquisitively.

"You have to carry me. I'm too tired to walk."

"I thought you said that you couldn't sleep."

She didn't find it necessary to answer him and rather relentlessly kept her arms elevated until he gave in. He chuckled and picked up the tiny girl. "So, what is your friends name?"

"Aro."

"Like the one you shoot?"

"Well sort of. But it isn't spelled the same." He said as he headed towards the steps leading to the basement.

"Daddy was trying to teach me my abc's. There are so many of them! One time I made Daddy say them and I counted them and they went higher than I could count! There must be a hundred!"

"Would you like me to teach them to you?"  
"Maybe tomorrow. I'm _only_ four you know, I can't meet your friend and learn a hundred abc's. Give me a break!" I loved how she manipulated her age in working to her advantage when she wanted it to.

"I'm _terribly_ sorry, Bella. Please forgive me."He flashed a smile at her hoping to charm the little diplomat into pardoning him.

"Well, all right."

He turned back to me with Bella in his arms and said, "If anyone needs us, we'll be downstairs. If you plan on leaving the house, don't go too far." I nodded and watched them descend the stairs.

**Carlisle's POV:**

I continued to walk down the two flights of stairs while holding Bella in my arms, and I couldn't help but compliment her, "You know, Bella, you are being a very good girl."

"I know." She stated. I grinned, knowing I shouldn't have expected any other response. The smile, however, slowly vanished when I reached the bottom of the steps and found Aro, waiting in anticipation for the little girl in my arms to arrive.

"Well then!" Aro said enthusiastically, clapping his hands together in amusement. "This must be the beautiful Bella!"

"That's what my name means, you know," She responded frankly as she wiggled her way out of my arms so she could stand on her own.

He let out a cackle, as he knelt down to her level. "Quite the little know-it-all, aren't you?"

"I'm almost five, you know." Aro looked at me, and I frowned in return.

"Bella, this is my friend, Aro. He's here to ask you a few questions."

"Okay." She shrugged carelessly as she walked over to where Edward sat silently. After she climbed onto his lap bringing back a slight, gracious smile to his face, she asked, "What do you want to ask me?"

"Well, my first question is, do you know how to shake hands?" I watched as Edward's face grew tense again. He and I both knew what was about to happen. Aro could read thoughts better than Edward, as long as he had their touch at his disposal; he wanted to know if what Edward had explained was the truth, and he knew that in her innocent, unknowing, human circumstance, Bella wouldn't cloud her thoughts from him.

Bella looked at Aro as though he were completely stupid. "Of course, I know how." She began to shake each of her hands viciously, almost hitting Edward in the face. Aro found absolute delight in her ignorance played off as intelligence.

"Very good, Bella! But I was thinking of something different. May I teach you a new way?"

I knew exactly what she was thinking as I watched the muscles of her face contort into further confusion. How could there possibly be another way to shake hands?

"You aren't going to hurt me, are you?"

"Oh, Darling, of course not!" Edward emphasized, making sure Aro heard the implication in his voice. "We aren't going to let _anyone_ hurt you. _Ever._"

"Edward is right, Bella." Aro said, ignoring any eye contact with either Edward or myself. "I merely wanted to teach you something."

"My abc's?" She asked, not impressed.

"Ha! No, not your abc's. I will let a professional teach you such things. I want to teach you how important people say hello to one another." Bella immediately looked at Edward for his approval, and when he nodded his permission, she looked back at Aro with critical eyes.

"Are you important?" She asked as though she wouldn't believe him if his answer were yes.

"I'm very important." He smiled.

"Oh." She frowned. "Me too."

Aro burst out in a fit of excited laughter. "Oh, I know, my dear. That is why I want to teach you this."

"Okay." She sighed, not impressed to find out that a stranger thought highly of her.

"Are you ready?" She nodded. "All right, the first thing you do is hold out your hand… like so." As he demonstrated, she mimicked him. "That's very good, except you have to use the opposite hand, because the next thing we are going to do is hold hands." She quickly changed her hand out for her right one, clearly making notes of these things in her head so as to impress everyone she would meet in the future. Then Aro took her hand in his. "And now we shake gently, like this." He began moving his hand up and down. He looked over at me and Edward with a fascinated face, as he spoke to Bella, "You can also shake hands at the end of your meeting with an important person. Consider it a gesture of hello and goodbye. Do you understand, Bella?"

She released his hand, which instantly drew his attention down to her again, and she replied, "I think so." I knew he hadn't seen anything; I could tell by the fascination in his eyes. He wouldn't show excitement by the verification of Edward's story. "What else do you want to ask me? My favorite color?" Edward and I claimed great amusement in Bella's rejection of Aro. Her sarcasm was music to the ears of two vampires witnessing Aro's attempt to eventually ask her if she would want to stay with our coven or travel to Italy with him.

He let out one of his overly obnoxious cackles in entertainment, "No, no Darling. I was going to ask you how you met Edward. Can you tell me that story?"

"Didn't Edward tell you?" She asked as though he were stupid.

Edward scoffed in amusement, "I told Aro that you were a much better story teller."

"Oh. I see." She said in understanding. I couldn't help but smile at the idea that she definitely thought of herself as pretentious in terms of story-telling. "Well Mummy and Daddy wanted to take me on a picnic, but they started to fight like they _always_ do. So I decided to go walk-abouts. That's what my mummy calls it when I wander off… she says I like to go walk-abouts. That's when I climbed the mountain, except it wasn't a very big mountain… it was kind of like a hill, but it was very muddy and Edward said I had very yucky hands." She put her hands up to her mouth and whispered, loud enough for us all to hear, "He thought my mummy didn't wash my hands, but really she washes them so much than I think my skin is going to fall off." While we all chuckled to ourselves, she took her hands away and continued, "That's when I saw Edward. He was _lying_ in the grass!" She said as though it were a completely unorthodox act.

"Do you know what he was doing in the grass, Bella?" Aro asked.

"Nope. Maybe he fell down, but his shirt was off. I thought that was kind of dumb."

"Dumb?" Aro asked, obviously not able to interpret the modern slang.

"It means stupid. You didn't know that?" She looked up at me and I just shrugged, trying to play into the fact that I too thought he was being dumb. She shook her head in disappointment, and continued. "_Anyway_… then I saw him sparkle."

"Sparkle? Really?" Aro asked looking at Edward conspicuously.

"Yeah, at first I thought that was sort of dumb too, but then I thought about how my mummy always yells at me when I get glitter everywhere so I thought it was sort of cool that Edward's mummy let him put it all over his body." The three of us laughed out loud until she grew upset and asked, "what's funny?" When we all stopped she let out a huge sigh. She was clearly annoyed with us. "That's when I asked if I could have some of his glitter. I thought if he gave me some it might make my mummy angry and then I could tell her and daddy that I didn't like it when they were fighting."

"I see. So they fight a lot?"

"Well they're in paradise now, so I don't think they will anymore, but they used to fight _all_ the time." She looked down at her hands, and both Edward and I knew that she was trying to be strong and not get upset. I found it amazing that she had such a capability at such a young age.

"I see. I'm sorry they are not in Forks anymore."

"That's ok. It'll be better because there is no fighting allowed in paradise. I think that is a rule they have there, right Edward?"

"That's right." He said definitively making her smile.

"What happened after you asked Edward for some glitter?" I could tell that Aro was inquiring whether Edward had told Bella of our circumstances.  
"He told me he had some at his house. So that's when we came here, and I met Car-ly-le, and Alice and Rosie," Edward and I both snickering at Bella's choice of a nickname for our housemate, "and Emmet, and Jasper," she brought her hands up to her mouth again to whisper, "he didn't look like he liked me very much. He looked like he had just fallen down or something." Returning to her normal voice, she asked, "What's that other lady's name?"

"Esme." Edward answered.

"Ez-may. Right. She looked kind of sad." She stated moving her eyes to look at me, as though she were trying to tell me something. "I felt kind of bad. She looked like she needed a hug. When I get sad, hugs always make me feel a little bit better. My daddy called them bear hugs. Those are the best kind."

"I'm sorry… bear hugs?" Aro asked.

Bella hopped off of Edward's lap and climbed onto the sofa next to Aro. "You aren't very smart, are you?" Edward let out a burst of laughter. "Here, let me show you." She was clearly not amused. "You hug." Aro just sat there, looking nervous. "Okay… you have to hug me." She looked over at me and rolled her eyes.

"Oh I see…" Aro said shakily. He shifted forward and gently embraced Bella, while Edward and I sat there snickering to ourselves. The snickering soon transformed to ecstatic belly laughter as we watched Bella's embrace grow tighter and she started shaking her body ferociously while holding Aro's body tightly to her own. We completely lost it however when she started making animalistic noises. When she finally let go Aro was in complete shock. "Well then… I can see why they call it a bear hug, now. That certainly was interesting."

"You didn't like it?" She looked extremely disappointed.

"Oh no, it's not that, Bella. I was just surprised. Please excuse me. It was highly entertaining!" He smiled.

"You know something? The way you talk is very different from the way my mummy and daddy talk. You sound like you are trying to be very smart."

He smiled, "Bella, someday you will understand that there is a superior way to the living standards in which you are used to."

"What. Are. You. Talking. About?" She looked at him in complete disbelief as though she couldn't accept that _anybody_ could possibly understand what he had just said.

"Bella… come and sit on my lap again," Edward motioned for her to come back to him. After she hopped back up, he began to talk. "Darling, there are few things that have gone on today that you don't quite understand, and what Aro is trying to tell you is that one day… when you are much older," he stressed, especially in Aro's direction, "we are going to explain them to you, and you are going to have to make decisions. Do you understand?"

"I think so." She said light-heartedly.

"One of those decisions, however, you have to make right now. I know you are only a little girl, but Carlisle, Aro, and I want you to do what you want. That is very important. Do you understand me, Little Miss?"

"I guess. Is something wrong? You are being very serious right now. I don't like it."

Edward kissed the top of Bella's head and I felt my cold heart sink to my empty stomach. "I know darling, but I promise… everything is going to be okay." She looked at Edward in what I assumed to be a similar face to that of which she expressed when he and Rosalie informed her about her parents.

"What do I have to do?" She asked innocently. Her tiny voice grew quieter as though she were cornering herself in the room trying to hide, and I noticed her heartbeat pick up speed. She was getting nervous.

"You don't have to do anything, Bella." Aro informed. "I am here to ask you one more question, however."

She sighed in relief. "You like to ask questions."

Expressing a chuckle, he continued. "Bella, now that your parents are in… uh… paradise, was it?" She nodded solemnly, "You have a couple of options. You may either stay here with Dr. Cullen and his…" He looked up at me and I nodded, "…family, or you may come with me and live with my family."

"I think I'm definitely going to stay here. That was an easy question." She smiled, mockingly.

"Before you decide… have you ever been on an airplane, Bella?"

"A real one?" She asked, showing slightly more interest.

"Yes, a real life jumbo jet." He smiled. Edward and I weren't amused with his tactics.

"Well no… but why would I go on an airplane?"

"My family doesn't live in America."

"Well, where do you live?"

"Do you know where Italy is?"

"Not really… I'd probably get lost."

"That's why you need the airplane. The airplane will take you anywhere you want."

"Will it take me to paradise?" She asked. The room went silent. It was heartbreaking watching such a strong little girl break down her own barriers with all hope of seeing her parents again, when we knew that there really was no such thing as paradise and she would never see them again.

Edward turned Bella towards him, and stroked a brunette ringlet out of her face. "Bella… you have to have a special ticket to go to paradise. They are very expensive… you've got to work very hard to get one. I'm sorry, darling."

Her facial expression didn't really fluctuate but we could tell by the flickering of her eyes that she was mentally processing the fact that she really couldn't see her parents again. "Okay."

"So what'll it be?" Aro said pressing on inappropriately.

"Well if I can't go to paradise I think I would like to stay here. I like my new friends." She smiled up at me. "I don't really know you, and you're not very smart, and actually you kind of ask too many questions that don't really make any sense to me." She turned to Edward and whispered in his ear, resulting in his outburst of laughter.

"What did she say?" Aro asked curiously.

"Your laugh is too loud." Aro sat back in his chair in awe of the fact that this little girl was truly incapable of keeping anything to herself. Edward and I just laughed to ourselves, causing Bella to giggle. It was obvious that she was extremely pleased with herself. I watched as she whispered another thing into Edward's ear and he nodded, and kissed her gently on the cheek. She climbed off his lap and walked across the space to Aro.

She stood directly in front of him, and extended her hand to him. "I'm going to bed now. Goodbye." He let out a cackle and took her hand gently in his and firmly shook it, implying he was proud she remembered what he had taught her. She walked over to where I stood and I picked her up playfully and gave her a bear hug, just the way she had taught Aro, though I was careful not to shatter her tiny frame in my strength. She was thoroughly amused by my attempt to show her the compassion her father used to. I then kissed her temple, placed her on the ground and she toddled over to the steps and began to climb.

"Alice should still be upstairs, make sure she puts you to bed, Little Miss."

"Good_night!" _She emphasized as she disappeared up the stairs, letting us know she was fully capable of taking care of herself.

Aro didn't hesitate to continue once she was gone. "So, gentlemen… it appears we have a few things to talk about…" He motioned for me to take a seat.

**All right folks… moving along slowly, but moving along nonetheless…. Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for all the reviews. I really do appreciate them a lot! Keep them coming! – KayLudlow**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight saga. **


	6. 6 A Dispute for Humanity

**Chapter Six**

**A Dispute for Humanity**

**Edward's POV:**

"The question of Bella's transformation is not something to question, Edward. I promise you, whether it be by force or choice, Bella will be one of our kind." I pounded my fist into the arm of the sofa leaving a rather large dent. I felt Carlisle's hand rest on my shoulder and his thoughts flow into my head. He was telling me to keep myself under control. Aro would sooner answer to tranquility and peach rather than irrationality.

"Aro," Carlisle began, "If I may just ask one question."

"Of course, friend."

"I understand she has unusual qualities, but why is your interest in Bella so great that you began your quest for her so early on?"

"Ah, Carlisle… your question isn't unjustified. There is no way we could turn her at such an early age, but you easily forget the consequences that arise with her talent." Carlisle and I sat in thought for a few seconds, until I let his thoughts enter into mine.

"Tracking her would prove difficult." I said plainly.

"Precisely. Her talents are already so far developed that we had to take action while she was still young enough to stay stagnant."

"Stagnant?" I asked.

"Last time my brothers and I came to visit, we brought Jane and Felix along. Do you remember?" We both nodded. "After returning to Volterra, Jane informed me of a most remarkable little girl she had come across in a park."

"Jane hunted in a public place?"

"Nonsense, it seems your darling Bella has a tendency to go 'walk-abouts?' Was it? Jane found her wandering around the edge of the forest and made an attempt to put her in a coma induced by pain before feeding on her as a light snack." His grin was absolutely disturbing, and it made me sick to think he could possibly find his account amusing. "Rather than proceeding, she tracked her back to her house so we would have a location to go off of. Bella is only four, as she so ardently admitted, which means that she isn't mobile. She can't drive. She can't travel on her own. She can't escape. We needed to claim her while we still knew where she was. As soon as she has access to mobility, that is as soon as she is of age, it would be much more difficult. Her talent blocks us all."

"So your plan was to take her at the age of four, kill her family, and then what, raise her in a town full of vampires? And here you are worried she's been exposed to _one_!"

"I will admit our plan has flaws, but no sooner than I will admit that you have subjected us to a grave danger. Fortunately our flaws and your fault can be combined to that of flawless retribution. If the girl wants to stay with you for the remainder of her childhood, I will allow it. No later than the age of eighteen and no sooner than the age of sixteen will Bella be subjected to her transformation. She must then consent to a meeting with myself and the high court of the Volturi for a proper examination."

"Examination?" I asked.

"Her talent as a human is indefinite. Her talent as a vampire… well… it's completely unseen. There's no knowing what she'll take with her. If she does in fact possess a gift after she is turned, then the question lies of whether or not she would like to join my ranks."

"I won't let her." I said indignantly.

"Unfortunately, my boy that won't be up to you. Bella will be free to do whatever she pleases." Carlisle said with grief in his voice. I let out an aggravated mutter. I barely knew Bella, but she had begun to revolutionize our coven. How could I possibly let her go. "But let's not focus on that just yet. She is only four."

"Precisely. There are more important issues at hand."

"The issue of you leaving?" I said flashing a phony smile.

"Careful Edward, do not forget who I am. I still have the power to punish you for this misfortune of yours." Carlisle looked at me and gave me a warning glare.

"Fine."

"We have to talk about certain rules and regulations."

"You mean besides compelling Bella into her impending downfall?"

Aro, ignoring my comment, continued, "She is, by no means to find out about your identity."

"How do you expect for us to control that? It's one thing to lie to her now, she's completely naïve, but you've seen how quickly she picks up on things. What do you think is going to happen when she gets older? We don't eat! She's bound to notice that eventually. We can only keep up appearances for so long… when she decides that she wants to figure us out, she will. Once she is old enough there will be no stopping her. I can't hear her thoughts. Alice can barely see her future unless it involves others as well. How are we supposed to keep her in the dark?"

Aro sat in thought and listened as he went over the possible options. "Is there no way to cover up your immortality?"

"Aro… You are a smart man… tell us… what had you planned to do in terms of fooling the girl? As none of our talents work on the girl, how would you have kept her in the dark?" Carlisle was putting Aro in his place, something he didn't deal well with, and I could tell he was having trouble with his answer. He hadn't thought that far.

"Going to lock her up and keep her well fed are you?" I asked.

"Clearly I haven't got everything figured out."

"You're trying to tell us that there are rules and regulations that we have to abide by when you haven't figured out your own plan? This is ridiculous!" I argued. I made to stand up and leave the room but Carlisle forced me back down.

"Aro this is most unlike you." He stated.

He released his posture, and leaned back into the chair. "I couldn't help myself. She's the most intriguing human I've ever come across. It's only natural I would want to know more. Can you imagine a man with my talents and not having the capability to use them. It's completely confounding!"

"We understand, Aro, but you of all people understand the consequences of humans who are knowledgeable of our kind. You've just preached it yourself. Volterra is full of vampires. We've only got seven."

"I know! I know! The whole things is blown to pieces! I was hoping Jane might take care of the girl! I'm not gifted in the department of thinking on my feet. Intimidation comes with my aptitude of knowledge. I know things and use them to my advantage. You know that." Carlisle nodded. "Look we need to come to an agreement."

"We can try our best, Aro. That is all that we can offer. In the future… well… you know what human beings are capable of. If they want to figure something out they will find a way to do so."  
"I suppose…" We watched as his facial expression change to that of one in deep thought… and I soon enough heard what he was thinking.

"You want us to tell her?"

He quickly snapped his head up to look at me. "Tell her? No! By no means are you to tell her. There are still laws that must be abided by, but if these laws were to simply be walked around… well… I see no reason in there being need for punishment if in the long run the outcome is going to benefit us."

"You want to let her find out, sir?" Carlisle asked cautiously.

"The girl is easily intrigued. If in her future she finds out, I want you to use this to our advantage."

"You want us to advertise her eternal damnation? I asked incredulously. "Over my dead body."

"It could be arranged, boy. I'm not against punishing you. It was a pity when you left Volterra, but since you did… you are of no use to me, really."

"I will not appeal to Bella's weaknesses!"

"You will, or you'll all suffer." Are smiled devilishly.

"And what happens if, down the line, she doesn't join you?" Carlisle asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Than so be it. She may come back to join you, or travel elsewhere if she so wishes." He saw my impending argument coming and raised his hand to stop me. "I understand your argument, son, but it is no use. She knows too much. Her transformation is incontestable at this point. If she is to find out about our kind, only one of two options may play out."

"I'm sure you mean only one option may play out." I sneered.

"Edward." Carlisle spoke warningly.

"Interesting. You correlate our life with death."

"We have no life, you ignoramus. We have dead hearts, and no blood flow. What part of us is living?"

"Our existence is forever living."

"Yes, but to what end? We cannot breath, we cannot eat, we cannot sleep. Existance without humanity… we are monsters, and yet here you are asking me to subject a four year old little girl to it purely for her existence?"  
"That is precisely what I am saying. Surely you wouldn't deprive this world of her."

"I would not deprive her of her right to a humane life!" I snapped viciously, but sooner realizing that my anger would get me nowhere I took an insignificantly calming breath, and embarked upon a different note… a thought that had always lingered in the back of mind. "I have never heard the story of your transformation, sir." Aro and Carlisle were both silent. "Do you remember what it was like to be human?" There was still no answer. "If you will, Sir… you are asking me to subject a little girl to a half-life. You are asking me to allow her sixteen years of life and then suck the life out of her. Do you not remember what it was like? Was there a debate to decide your fate?" The silence was incriminating. "Do you not remember the feeling of betrayal? Asking yourself why anyone would ever want to inflict this pain upon someone else? Don't you remember? That knot in your stomach? Remembering the idea that you never thought you'd need to actually make an effort to remember humanity?" The look in Carlisle's eyes could have potentially brought tears to my own if it weren't for the fact that my tear ducts dried up along with my blood supply.

"Edward, have you not heard the tales?" Carlisle asked cautiously.

"Tales?"

"The tales of the one who wasn't turned? The tales of the one created from the depths of the earth, never to know humanity in the slightest?"

"What are you talking about?" I looked back and forth between Carlisle and Aro and watched their faces. "You weren't turned? You were just born this way. How is that possible?"

"Edward, it isn't something that is highly broadcasted. Seeming as you were raised in our parts, we just assumed you would have heard the rumors. Volterra is very good at keeping secrets outside of its own walls; the inside, however, is a vast property of gossip and tale." I watched his eyes with intense confusion. He was looking me straight in the eye and I couldn't hear his thoughts. It was as though he had the power to block me out. "There is no understanding of my creation, only that I was the first of our kind. I had nobody to teach me humanity. I had nobody to decide anything for me. I just am what I am, and there is no other explanation for it. There are stories and myths that have come from my creation, most involving a devil of some sorts, but to be honest there is no actual fact when it comes down to my existence. So to answer your question… no. I do not remember what it was like. I don't remember the feeling of natural breath escaping my lungs. I do not remember the anger. There was no remembering. I was created and I awoke to what I imagined as normality. I created the world we live in. It is my fault. I am to blame, but you cannot deny me my right to companionship. I feel it is the only actual humane trait I possess. You talk of humanity. Then grant me this."

I was utterly speechless. My time in this monstrous world had sprouted out of what I imagined to be malice and hatred, and here I stood corrected. I held no other thought. I stood up, unswervingly, "We will do our best. Bella will turn at age seventeen, and she will be a part of _our_ coven. That is the end of this conversation. I assume you know your way out." I walked directly to the stairwell, but before exiting the basement level of the house, I turned frankly and looked Aro dead on. "I apologize."

**Thanks again for all my reviews, I really enjoy hearing what you think!! So, please keep them coming! – Kay Ludlow**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Twilight.**


	7. 7 Cause and Effect

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! Sorry it has been a while. Finals unfortunately took priority. **

**Chapter Seven**

**Cause and Effect**

**Edward's POV:**

I walked stoically up the steps to the landing of the first floor. The rest of the coven was waiting around the large oak tree standing in the center of the house. I noticeably ignored them and continued to approach the second flight of stairs leading to the second floor of the house; however, Alice quickly jumped from a branch and stopped me in my tracks. "What happened?"

"Don't try and fool me, Alice. You already know." I tried to resist her grip on my arm, but stopped struggling as she retaliated.

"No. I don't. I haven't seen anything clearly since Bella came, with exception of her parents death."

"What do you mean you haven't seen anything?"

"She has a talent, Edward." Alice spoke with concern in her voice. "But you already knew that… didn't you?"She had noticed my reaction to her insight. It wasn't until Bella's arrival that I understood the consequences to my own talent. I hadn't learned to hide my feelings very well, and this included my incapability to control my facial reactions. I never had much communication with many people, much less my own coven, but the sudden change in circumstances brought to my attention the fact that I may be able to easily read others, but that didn't eliminate their ability to read me. "What happened with Aro?" I loosened her grip on my arm and began to walk towards the stairwell. I wanted to check on Bella. "Edward! What happened?" I stopped in my tracks and without turning to face anyone, I contemplated my reaction.

I took a deep breath. "Bella is going to be one of us by the time she turns seventeen. Aro is under the impression that Bella has a gift dealing with barricading herself from other's powers, and now I'm going to check on her." I tried to control the anger that was surging through my empty veins, and continued up to the second floor where I found Bella fast asleep amongst Carlisle's pillows.

Knowing she was safely tucked away, and that the other members of the coven were just as concerned about her well-being, I left the house in search of supplies for Bella's surprise.

**Carlisle's POV:**

Aro's reaction to Edward's outburst sent shivers through my spine. He quickly stood up and made it clear that his men would be checking up on Bella periodically. It wasn't that which surprised me. It was his comment afterwards that would have stilled the blood in my veins if I had any.

"I will be back on Bella's seventeenth birthday to see to it that the plans are followed through with." He made his way to the stairwell extremely slow as though his bones were actually beginning to feel his age. "I _will_ see to it myself, if necessary."

I had placed all of my focus on calming Edward. I hadn't given Bella the time of day; the little human girl had completely vacated my mind in the event of her actions towards Aro, and for some absurd reason that seemed okay with me. She had taken on the most dangerous vampire head on and waltzed upstairs to be after a job well done, to which I'm sure she felt extremely proud of herself for. What _didn't_ dawn on me was the fact that she was only four years old and although eloquent in her adorable demeanor, she was still human. She would not be able to sweet talk her way out of her own future. Even more upsetting was the pure malice in Aro's tone. After living with him and his brothers for almost a century, I had experienced many of Aro's mood swings; however, this situation was absolutely original. Never in my time with him had I experienced such violent plans of his. These days, however, it was hard to gauge violence. My life relied on it, and yet I couldn't help but let the hypocrisy rush through my brain; I could not accept Aro's decision. I wanted to run after him and rip his head off. I felt an increasing connection to this little human. She had had an effect on all of us, but I couldn't quite place the effect she had on me past a growing admiration. The anger I felt towards Aro's words and predetermined actions was only focused towards his intention and reason. I couldn't quite express the underlying happiness that I would feel if Bella were to join us for eternity. Edward would have no fear in terms of ripping _my_ head off.

By the time I made it up the stairs Aro had been long gone, according to Alice who seemed to be waiting for me at the top of the stairwell. I could sense that she wanted to know every last detail of what had just happened, but a part of me simply wanted to walk right past her and climb into bed next to Bella and force sleep upon myself. It was a talent few people knew about me; years ago in frustration for my lack of literal humanity I took it upon myself to train my mind to literally slow itself down to the point of shutting down completely. After this achievement, although I couldn't see into the future or read people's thoughts, I decided that I too had an ability—the ability to literally claim my own humanity

"What happened, Carlisle? You look worn out." Alice said with her usual worried tone.

"Physically, no—I'm fine. Mentally and emotionally, yes."

"Edward told us what Aro wants. It isn't fair!"

"Calm yourself, Alice. Aro has made up his mind, and considering his options he's been nothing but fair. The situation is a difficult one. Nothing good could truly come from it. We have to accept the deal, and be thankful that Aro is letting Bella stay here and human for as long as he has."

"Human? But he wouldn't turn a four-year-old! That's way too dangerous."

"I'm not speaking in terms of transformation, Alice; I mean we are lucky that she is alive."

"Edward told me that Bella has a gift. Not that I couldn't sense it myself, but do you honestly think Aro would kill someone with a gift?"

"You should have heard the threats he was giving Edward. Aro is like a child in some senses. He is attracted to new things, but as soon as that thing becomes off limits he will do one of two things—do everything within his power to get it, or lose interest. Bella is very lucky that, in her case, she falls under the former of the two. Edward, on the other hand, needs to watch his step, and by that I mean he needs to do what Aro wants. Since Edward left Volterra he has become useless to Aro, hence his carelessness in terms of his threats to kill him."

"That's terrible!"

"Yea, well I think it's safe to say we all need to be on our best behavior and watch ourselves. Aro's men are going to be checking in on Bella and the coven."

"Right, well I suppose it's to be expected. What did Aro say in terms of concealing our identity?" She watched my face grow ever wearier. "Carlisle? What is it? We aren't going to have to eat human food, are we?" I let out a chuckled at her trivial fear, but sadness and anger overcame me again as she repeated her question, "What is it?"

I didn't know how else to say it. "He wants her to find out."

"WHAT?" It was pretty clear to me when Aro made this intention clear that this would be the reaction of the others. It was completely out of the ordinary, not to mention completely dangerous. On the other hand it posed a threat a personal threat to our coven. Not only would Bella develop friends outside of the house eventually, but it went completely against our standards. As vampires who wanted to live life as normal as possible, exposing Bella to our nature posed as an extreme threat. It would go against everything we had built. Protecting our life was not something that came easily to our kind, and since I had the fabulous idea of broadcasting our existence as 'humans' it became even more difficult. Having a human on the inside would only further jeopardize the coven. "He's insane!"

"He's Aro. He knows what he wants. He understands the complications of each scenario and he tried to play into our wishes at the same time. It was the only option. I hate to admit it, but…" I let out a frustrated sigh, "It was the only option."

"What happens if she lets it leak?"

"Well, when the time comes, and let's hope that it doesn't for quite some time, we are going to have to stress just how important it is that she doesn't. It isn't just our necks on the line. Bella has to understand that the second she met Edward she was bound to our fate."

"She's only four, Carlisle. How is she supposed to understand that?"

The sound of stiletto heels entered the room and both Carlisle and Alice looked to the living room archway to find Rosalie standing with her arms crossed. "Bella is a smart girl. She picks up on things quickly."

"Exactly my point!" Alice exclaimed turning back towards me.

"I wasn't talking to Carlisle, Alice. I'm talking to you." Alice turned back around, but before she had the chance to interject, Rosalie held her hand up and continued. "Bella may not understand everything that is going on around her right now, but she's perceptive of the fact that it isn't normal. She is beginning to understand things on her own, and though she probably won't voice her opinions just yet she is going to start developing theories of her own. She may be young but that's what young children rely on… their imagination is all that they have besides the authority of adults. When adults won't answer their questions, they'll come up with their own answers."

"Rosalie is right, Alice. Whether we want to or not, we are, eventually, going to have to give Bella the ins and outs of our lives."

"And what? Broadcast them as perfect and wonderful so she'll want to join the club?"

"Essentially, yes." I said stoically.

"But this is all completely backwards. How is this acting as a protection for anyone?"  
"It isn't." Edwards voice came from behind me. I turned to find him completely disheveled as though he'd just been in a duel. "Bella is protected, and neither are we. A life extension doesn't count as protection."

"If it means Bella's life, Edward, it does."

"Bella's life? Carlisle, listen to yourself. Aren't you the one who opened our eyes to the lack of humanity vampires have? Isn't that why we live the way we do? To claim that last hope of humanity within our reach? You want to rip that away from Bella too?"

"Of course not! But Aro was right about one thing. This world does not deserve to be rid of this girl. She deserves a chance at—"

"Life?"

"Yes, Edward!"

"Try telling that to her the day you rip into her soul and turn her into a monster."

"What would you have me do, Edward!" I cried out.

"I would have you protect the little girl who is the first _person_ to bring this household together!

"If she doesn't turn you risk losing her all together!"

"And I suppose eternity looks divine to you, does it?"

"You're looking at this from a completely deluded perspective Edward."

"Did you have a choice, Carlisle?" He asked looking me square in the eye. "Well? Did you? Did someone sit down and debate whether to turn you into this ashen creature from the shadows? Well!"

"This is different, Edward."

"HOW? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT? YOU TAUGHT ME A DIFFERENT WAY! YOU TAUGHT ME WE DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL PEOPLE! THAT IT WASN'T PEOPLE WHO DID THIS TO US, SO WHY SHOULD WE WANT REVENGE ON THEM!"

"This isn't revenge, Edward." I tried staying calm, but his emotion was growing more intense by the minute. "Bella's only chance at experiencing this world is in our hands. We can show her as much humanity as possible but in the event of her impending death, I will do anything to prevent that from happening, including a transformation if that's what it takes." Edward looked down at the ground, and I could tell he was processing his defeat. "You're acting as though I want this for her. I don't. What I do want, is for Bella to have a chance, and if this is the only chance she gets I'm not going to stand in her way. It isn't fair to her, and I understand that, but what can we do? If we fight Aro we all die. You know that." Continuing to look down, he nodded. "Is that what you want? You want us to fight Aro's men, undoubtedly killing off the entire coven and have Bella subjected to the horrors of Volterra? At least with us she has a small chance of humanity. I'm trying my best to reason with you Edward. If I had my way I would simply put the little girl up for adoption and she could continue life as a beautiful, _human _little girl, but unfortunately I do not make the rules, and those who do are much more powerful than us. Just because I've accepted what has to happen, doesn't mean I'm on their side."

Edward stood in silence, but I knew he was listening to me. I could tell he felt awful for yelling. He was Edward, his temper was short-lived, and the effects were always regenerative in terms of the relationships he had with others. It was no different in this case. He finally looked back up at me. "I'm sorry for yelling at you Carlisle. I know you were only trying to help. I'm just angry; it shouldn't have to be this way."

I walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know it shouldn't, and you're right. It isn't fair, but it also wouldn't be fair to support Bella in the only way we can."

"I know." He produced a half smile, which was only appropriate. Regarding the situation, it was nothing to smile about.

"Whew—and here I was thinking we'd all be nobodies to one another again!" Alice interjected, breaking the sorrowful silence and bringing smiles back to all of us. "So Edward, care to tell us where you've been?"

He chuckled at her flakey disposition. "Gladly. I've been at the hardware store."

She scrunched her face up in confusion, "Is it open?"

"It is for vampires." He laughed, resulting in our own laughter. "I had to pick up the supplies for Bella's surprise. I had to borrow your Jeep Emmett, I hope that's okay."

"Of course, buddy. What's the surprise?"

"We're going to build Bella an actual tree-house." The entire coven laughed at his wonderful ambition to please the little girl, and we all knew deep down that he was going to make a wonderful father to the little girl who had captured all of our hearts in such a short time.

Exhausted, I made my way up to my bedroom in hopes that there might be some room left on the bed for me. Unfortunately, but to my amusement, Bella was sprawled across the bed with all fours extended in different directions. The little effort that it would take for me to move her without her knowing didn't really seem worth it. She looked too peaceful and I was perfectly comfortable relaxing in my armchair.

Bella woke up around six in the morning. Thankfully, since I was actually making an effort to sleep the little girl who climbed on to my lap barely woke me up. That is, I wasn't too bothered at the early bird wake up call, as supposed to most humans who would complain about the "ungodly" hour. It was actually quite pleasant waking up to such a wonderful sight.

"Well then." I chuckled. "What do we have here?"

"It's me! Bella!" She was completely put out at the idea of me not remembering her.

I laughed at her response. "Of course it's you! I know that. What I mean is what are you doing on my lap?"

"It's morning." She said with a matter of fact tone in her voice.

"I see. And is this usually how you wake people up?"

"Well…" I could tell she was in deep thought as to whether or not she wanted to fill me in on what she was truly capable, but her answer truly took me by surprise. "Most of the time I just climb in bed with mommy and daddy, but I can't do that anymore. I was going to look for Edward, but then I saw you sitting here and sleeping and so I thought perhaps you would like to wake up too."

I smiled turning the little girl around so she could sit on my lap. "Well thank you very much."

"Are you gonna turn your legs into a pony?" She asked with a slightly terrified underlying tone in her voice.

"Excuse me?"

"Before my Grandpa went to heaven he would always sit me on his lap like this and then his legs would go crazy! He said it was just like riding a pony, but I just think he was crazy because I've been on a pony before and it isn't scary like my grandpa's legs were."

"I see." I said making note of this little fear of hers, while picking her up and placing her on the ground. "Well we don't need to be sitting around. It's a lovely day, and by the sounds of what Edward has as his surprise, it's going to be a long one, which means… you need a big breakfast!" I stood up and held my hand out for her to take, which she did willingly and quickly. "What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?" She began on a long list of breakfast foods, and I only hoped that Alice had the fridge stocked. There hadn't been need for it … ever.

After a big breakfast and a huge attempt at walking around the subject of why none of us were eating, Bella finally asked to have her surprise.

"Well, Little Miss, it isn't quite ready. But that's part of the surprise. We need your help."

"What is it!" She asked standing up on the barstool.

I laughed, but fearful that she might fall told her to sit back down, before Edward continued, "Well, how would you like to help us build a tree-house in the back yard?"  
I watched her process the idea of having two tree-houses to herself. Her eyes opened wide with excitement and I instantly thought about how she had opened all of our eyes. Vampires tend to lose their sense of perception in terms of time after the first fifty or so years. The fact that we don't age, and we won't die unless killed gives us plenty of reason not to care. Bella quite suddenly brought that perception back, and we all understood that the next thirteen years would be crucial to her as well as ourselves. Disregarding time, however, I found yet another claim to my own humanity… a family is something not typically associated with vampire covens; however, I knew Bella would bring yet another wonderful quality to the Cullen household. She would allow us to inch even closer to the humanity that attaches itself to a family. Edward had been right. Our kind didn't live; life isn't associated with the undead, but Bella would be our only connection between this life and death situation, and I knew that in the years to come I wouldn't be able to thank her enough.

**Please read and review! Now that it is summer, I'll be able to post much more! Thanks again! **

**-Kay Ludlow**


	8. 8 Punch and Punishment

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Eight**

**Punch and Punishment**

**Edward's POV:**

"Yes, I understand Mrs. McCaghy. I'll be right there. Thanks again." I hung up the phone and looked over at Emmet who was chewing on an apple. "Ugh! How can you stomach that stuff?"

"You know, it's not half bad. You should give it a try sometime. Bella's let me taste all sorts of foods… except her favorites.

"Her favorites?" I asked interested in yet another point of evidence that proved the fact that over the past year Bella had completely taken over our lives.

"She won't share her favorites with me." He took another bite out of the apple causing me to cringe. "Says they're too good for me to have." His response brought a very big smile to my face, because I knew Bella would say just that to keep him away from something she wanted. "So what's up? Why were you on the phone with her teacher?"

"Ah, yes. Actually I have a feeling we have you to thank for this." I looked at Emmet with the most serious face I could muster. "Emmet, I think Bella's a little young to learn how to round house, bud. Let's keep the fighting lessons to a minimum. At least for now, kay?" Emmet's smile only grew wider as he learned of Bella's attempt to fight a boy who had tried to take her sticker from her. "I'm just glad they're trying to take them away from her."

Emmet burst into laughter. "Yeah just think of what she would have done had he tried to _give_ her the sticker."

"I don't want to even begin to think of what she would do."

"Ha! Carlisle what do you think?" Emmet asked. I already knew he was in the vicinity of the kitchen due to his lingering thoughts wandering closer into my mind, but I turned around to greet his presence.

"What do I think of what?" he responded.

"What do you think Bella would do to a boy if he were to _give _her a sticker rather than _take _one from her."

I listened to Carlisle's thoughts and was thoroughly disgusted by the images he was projecting. "Please… Carlisle." Utterly disgusted at the idea that a five year old little girl—_my_ five year old little girl—was even capable of thinking about kissing boys I instantly tried to prevent the conversation from going any further.

"Don't _please_ me, Edward. You may be Bella's father, but I'm still older than you and still the head of this household."

The slight bout of sarcastic resentment in his voice amused me and I simply retaliated with, "You wouldn't have a _household_ to head if it weren't for me and Bella. So hush."

"No don't hush. I wanna hear what he has to say. It's gotta be amusing if you don't want him to say it, Edward." Emmet was one for sick humor and he loved it even more when it was at my expense.

Carlisle looked over at me and I begged him not to speak the horrific words about my five year old little perfection. "What I was _going_ to say is that I think it would be a tossup between her round housing him again or planting one on him."

"CARLISLE! REALLY?" I shrieked, repulsed at the thought of my daughter even talking to a boy. Emmet let out a burst of laughter with my reaction and Carlisle simply chuckled to himself. The horrific part about it was that I knew he was right. Bella was perfect—she was smart; she was definitely funny; and she had extreme passion for everything she did. The problem was that sometimes that passion took over her, and she had a tendency to overreact. I suppose I was perfectly happy that this time she had decided to punch a boy. I could definitely wait a lot longer for the kissing to begin. In fact, I'd be perfectly happy if it never began—_perfectly _happy. When the laughter died down I realized I still had to go to the school and pick my little delinquent up, as well as formerly apologize to the poor boy's parents.

"I can go." Carlisle offered. "I have to stop by the hospital anyway and pick up some work for this weekend. You know how Bella loves going to my office," he smirked.

"She hates going to your office." Emmet spoke bluntly.

"Well how else were you planning on punishing that cute little face?" Carlisle slanted his eyes at Emmet with a cocky smirk plastered on his face, because he knew, as well as I did, that nobody could punish that girl for too long. Even if it weren't for the fact that she was too pitifully cute to handle, she'd find some way to talk her way out of it. At least this way she couldn't wriggle her way out of going to the office. What could she do? Steal Carlisle's keys and drive home? He grabbed his keys off the hook with a knowing smirk, tossed them in the air and swiftly caught them expressing to both Emmet and me that he knew he was, indeed, quite a genius. "I'll be back in about an hour." Carlisle walked smoothly out of the kitchen, and Emmet let out a burst of laughter, conveying his deep amusement for what had just happened.

"Why am I constantly getting the message that everyone in this house is much better at raising Bella than I am?" I slumped on a bar stool and rested my chin in my hand.

Emmet crossed the kitchen and sat across from me. "You aren't bad at being a parent, Edward. The others and I have just opened up to a lot of things, and she finds security in that."

"Opened up to a lot of things?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah…" He stood up and rolled an apple across the counter to where I was sitting, "Think about it." Then he too left, leaving me alone with the apple and my thoughts. Taking Bella in had turned my life upside down. I understood our differences. Her humanity was emphasized more and more every day, and I never failed to realize the fact that she was the only human in the Cullen household. What I did fail to realize, however, was the fact that it didn't matter how much I covered up our identity; I never put much effort into developing a new human identity like the rest of the house had. I looked down at the apple and took a deep breath as I picked it up. I held it to my nose and sniffed at it cautiously before taking a big bite. The jagged texture of the fibers brushed against my tongue while the juices burned their way down my throat. After an immense amount of effort and an overkill of chewing, I found the courage to, finally, swallow the bite of vulgarity.

**Carlisle's POV:**

I drove the black Mercedes to Forks Elementary. Taking my sunglasses off and placing them in their case, I looked over at the front seat. Bella loved sitting in the front seat. Edward always scolded me for letting her, and I loved spoiling her with little things such as that. Picking her up this time, however, was different and I frowned at the thought of knowing that I couldn't coddle her this time. I reached in the back seat for my briefcase and files and placed them on the front seat. At least this way I'd have an excuse with the front seat being occupied by medical charts, and I wouldn't have to deal with her big pouty eyes. The eyes killed me.

I walked to the principal's office and found the doey-eyed little girl waiting with her Buzz Lightyear backpack at her feet. She was sitting on her hands and swinging her tiny legs quite viciously back and forward. I could tell that she was in one of those moods. It was her "don't mess with me" mood. Of course this applied to small children and she had nothing on me, but the thought made me laugh. She looked up at the door opening and when she saw me standing with my arms crossed, attempting the most serious face I could muster without laughing she averted her eyes, every other second taking a quick glance to make sure I was still giving her the glare. I looked over at the secretary sitting behind her desk and she was clearly as amused as I was. Fortunately for her she could actually show her amusement. I had to keep to myself.

Eventually Bella glanced over at me again and her eyes stuck. She smiled wide and gasped as though only just realizing that I was standing there. "Car-ly-le! What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Her broken speech made me want to burst into a fit of laughter. She really knew how to get under your skin and she knew exactly what buttons to press, but I couldn't let her get to me. I needed to hold strong on my word to Edward.

I stalked over to Bella and knelt down to her eye level. I looked down and saw that her shoe was untied, so in the midst of re-tying it I began my speech, "Bella… you know exactly what I'm doing here. Why did you punch that boy?"

She let out a sigh. "Do I have to tell you? Perhaps we can go and get ice cream instead." She hopped off the chair and held out her hand, but I simply picked her up and placed her back on the chair.

"No, Bella." I said sternly. I needed to stop spoiling this little girl. It was going to get me in trouble.

"We're not going to get ice cream?" She asked sadly. I knew exactly what she was up to. She was playing her cards just the way she always did. Pout a little and Carlisle will fold instantly.

"Nope. We're going to my office."

"Awe… but I don't like your office. Can't we just get ice cream instead?"

"What did I just say, missy?"

"Is this because I have to be in trouble, because I hit Tommy?" I looked down on her and nodded my head harshly. "But he took my sticker! Emmet said I have to stand up for myself! He said if people try to hurt me, I should sock 'em!"

I couldn't help but internally curse Emmet for placing these thoughts her head. Of course she would misunderstand and take him literally. "Bella, you are not allowed to hit people unless they punch you first. Do you understand?"

"Not really? Why would somebody punch me?" I frowned slightly at the thought of how many people actually would try to do that in the future, but regained my composure when I saw the expectant Bella waiting for her answer.

"Nobody is going to punch you, Sweetheart. That's why you aren't allowed to punch anyone either. Okay?"

She pouted her lips for a second and thought about it, before she shrugged, and hopped off the chair. "Can we get ice cream now?"

"Bella…" I said, elongating the end of her name so as to emphasize that she was not to pull a fast one on me this time.

"What if I'm such a good girl at the office that you have to give me ice cream because I'm too cute?" The secretary at the desk burst out into laughter.

I put my hands on my hips, and looked down at her with a smirk on my face. It was impossible not to show amusement. "Now, who taught you that one? No, wait… let me guess…Alice."

She smiled and her big brown eyes looked up at me with that knowing mischief lingering in them, "Did it work?"

"Did it work?" I exclaimed, as I laughed. I began putting her anorak on and sighed, "We'll see. You're supposed to be in trouble missy."

"I'll be good! I promise! Cross my heart and something with a needle!"

"What?" I laughed.

"I don't know… Alice tried to tell me it, but sometimes she speaks so fast. I just nod, but don't tell her! But I promise I'll be good!"

"Bella, that isn't how getting in trouble works. You aren't supposed to get ice cream for having a good punishment."

"Why not?" She asked, positively confused.

I chuckled as I finished zipping her up. "Come on you, we'll see about the ice cream."

"I am cute, aren't I? Alice said I'm too cute for my own good. She says I'm like her."

"Well that's certainly for sure."

When we arrived at the hospital, Bella skipped ahead of me. She ignored the Mary, the old lady behind the desk, who was yelling at her about adult supervision or something, and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Bella wave her off with a single wave as though she were in much higher places than Mary. "Sorry, Mary. She's with me... Bella!" I attempted to rush after her while trying to keep my files from flying everywhere. I found her sitting comfortably in my office chair. "I told you to wait for me, missy!"

"I know, but you were going to slow, and I know where your office is!"

"Ok. Well that's my chair."

"I think you might need a new one."

"Oh? And why do you say that?"

"Because this one looks like it might be nicer in our house."

"You mean your room?"

"Well… sure. I mean that wasn't my _first_ choice, but that might work." She was clearly playing the sarcasm up majorly and I couldn't help but smile.

"Nice try, little one. The chair is staying here. Now go in the corner for a few minutes and work on your letters while I get my stuff together."

"I hate doing my letters."

"Yes, well you should have thought about that before punching Tommy."

"Well _maybe_ if Tommy learned all his letters like I did, he would get a sticker and he wouldn't have to _steal_ mine. Then I wouldn't have to punch him."

"Bella what did I say earlier?"

"Yeah, yeah… no punching unless they punch first, but they won't because I'm too cute, so no punching at all. I get it." She let out a sigh. "This is hard work."

I smiled as I continued to put together a few medical charts for the weekend, "What's hard work, baby?"

"Being in a big family."

Her response caused me to look up at her in the corner. She was busy writing the letter "d" in capitals and lowercases. "Why is that hard work? Don't you like everyone?"

She didn't look up. "I like them lots… but…"

"But what?"

"Mrs. McCaughy says I'm in high demand, and that means everyone wants to love me and teach me everything they know."

I let out a sigh. "Bella, you're teacher is right."

"I know… and I know that everyone likes me, because I'm Bella. I just get tired."

"Of what, sweetie?" By now I'd finished putting my stuff together and I went to kneel down besides her.

"I don't know." She shrugged. She finished drawing the curve of the uppercase d and look up at me. "Sometimes Alice wants me to be pretty when I don't want to be."

"You get tired of Alice bossing you around?"

"No… I just get tired of everyone wanting me to be the Bella that they like. Sometimes I don't want to be their Bella. I want to be my own." I was amazed at her capability to comprehend such mature concepts without really knowing it.

"Bella, if you ever feel like that you have to tell someone. It is perfectly okay to be your own Bella." She finally looked up at me and I could tell she was relieved to hear this. "Come here." I opened my arms for her to give me a hug, and just as usual she jumped into them and gave me her specialty—a rather vicious bear hug.

In the midst of the hug she slyly sneaked in a question, "Can we get ice cream now?"

I pushed her away from me and held her shoulders. Smiling to her, I answered, "You don't give up Bella Cullen, do you?"

"You told me to never give up!" She smiled.

"Why am I not surprised that you would use my own words against me?" I chuckled. "Come on then. But if you tell your father, we're both gonna get it."

"Can I sit in the front seat too?"

"Don't push it." I smiled.

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**


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